


Sheepish | Spencer Reid

by emmareadsalot



Category: Criminal Minds, Spencer Reid - Fandom
Genre: Agents, Books, Doctor - Freeform, F/M, FBI, Fluff, Reid, Spencer Reid - Freeform, Spencer Reid/OC - Freeform, bau, coffeeshop, criminal minds - Freeform, drreid, fbiagents, spencerreidfluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-18 02:21:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 22,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29360961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emmareadsalot/pseuds/emmareadsalot
Summary: Emma Gray and Spencer Reid knew of each other from the coffee shop that they frequented. They acted sheepishly, and only Derek Morgan could get Reid to finally speak to her.
Kudos: 16





	1. One

ONE: "Saved by the bell, kid. Saved by the bell."

Emma Gray got coffee in the same shop every morning. She enjoyed the routine, as she was a doctor who worked crazily hectic days and she could never quite keep a routine. Her morning coffee at Joe's Café was the one thing she could rely on to be the same, and to be calm. The other thing that she enjoyed about the café was the fact that a brown-eyed, messy-haired boy also got coffee there every morning. She didn't know his full name, but caught that his first name must be Spencer, considering that they call out names when their coffee was ready. He wasn't in the shop every morning, but most mornings, and when he was, he sat in the same seat every time, as did she and they had a good view of each other from their chosen seats.

She would be lying if she said she didn't find "messy-haired boy", as she liked to call him, attractive. She would also be lying if she said she never caught herself staring at him. Spencer also wouldn't lie, he found Emma attractive too. Their problem was not that the attraction wasn't there, it was that both of them were as shy as can be. Spencer noticed that his very best friend, Derek Morgan, would ask out any girl he found attractive, but Spencer just wasn't like that - and neither was Emma. Both of their jobs were highly demanding and didn't allow them much time for social interactions at bars or places like that to learn how to be as social as someone like Morgan.

Despite getting coffee at the same place and seeing each other almost every morning, the two of them would never go over and talk to the other. This morning painted the picture of most every other morning. Emma entered the coffee shop at around 7:15, to see Spencer about three spots ahead of her in the line. He ordered, the people in between them ordered, she ordered, then he waited, she waited and they both went to sit at their regular tables. That's it - that's how it went every morning. No simple "hello's", not even any awkward bumping into each other. They were both aware of the attraction, but neither of them were confident enough to act upon it.

It continued like this for many more mornings, until, one morning Spencer brought Morgan into the coffee shop to discuss a case that had really been racking their minds. Today, Emma was ahead of Spencer in the line and she sat down before Spencer and Morgan. From what Morgan noticed, he definitely saw that Spencer had a crush.

"Hey, Reid, who's that?" he asked, nonchalantly.

"Who, her?" Reid answered, looking towards Emma.

"Yes, her. Don't act like you haven't been staring at her for the past 10 minutes, kid," Morgan said with a slight smirk.

"What do you mean, I am not staring," Reid defended.

"Oh pretty boy, me guess, you sit here every morning, she sits there every morning, you both stare at each other but have never even shared a simple hello to each other," Morgan analysed.

Spencer was surprised at how correct Morgan was, but refused to let him win. "Hey, the whole team agreed not to profile each other."

"I'm not profiling kid, I'm stating the obvious. You don't need special training to see that you find that girl over there attractive," Morgan said. "Go talk to her."

"I will certainly not, what if she's busy," Reid said.

"Yes, so direly, extremely busy reading whatever papers she has and sipping slowly on her coffee," Morgan said, with another one of his signature smirks.

Morgan was actually reading the situation pretty correctly. Emma was reading over some medical files to get ready for work, but she could go without reading them, she really wasn't busy and would actually not have minded some company. She didn't fail to notice that Spencer had a friend with him today and noted that she still found Spencer attractive. She took notice that Spencer's friend would most likely attract the most attention, and with his built arms you could almost definitely assure that he had an 8-pack of abs underneath his shirt, however Emma thought there was a charm to Spencer. He was attractive in a way more than just having abs, he looked like he had a real character which is what initially sparked Emma's interest in him. She thought she could read people pretty well, so she assumed that his attractiveness went beyond physicalities. Spencer's friend, on the other hand, she couldn't tell if he had much going on behind the washboard abs.

"Shut up Morgan, she looks like she's reading something, I don't think she really wants an awkward stranger wasting her time by stuttering away at her," Spencer said.

"Come on Reid, you have to at least tell yourself you have more game than that. I'm not leaving until you go talk to her," Morgan said.

"Well then looks like you'll be here all day," Spencer said with a laugh.

Just at that moment, Emma got a call from the hospital and quickly got up. She was in Spencer and Morgan's range of hearing when she said "No, I'm not on call, but I'll come to the hospital early to check out what's going on, just keep the patient stable." After that she hung up and quickly dashed out.

"Saved by the bell, kid. Saved by the bell. And hey, she's a doctor! Did you know that? No, I'm guessing you didn't know that seeing as you're too scared to talk to her," Morgan said in a teasing tone.

"Hey, I'm not too scared, I just don't want to disturb her," Reid said.

"Come on now, Reid. I'm coming back here with you every morning until you go up and talk to her. Now let's look over this case," Morgan said, and they directed their attention to the file they brought with them.

This was going to be a long week for Spencer, thanks to Morgan.


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TWO: "After all this time, does you coming over here have anything to do with that friend of yours who hasn't stopped staring at us since you walked over here?"

The next morning, Morgan stayed true to his word and accompanied Reid to Joe's Café. They were both happy because they had solved the difficult case the day before and it was an in state case which meant that they didn't have to fly anywhere.

Emma was already sat down when Spencer and Morgan entered. It was Morgan's mission to get the two of them talking before the day was over and he was going to try like his life depended on it. He started after they got their coffee and were about to sit down. "Okay pretty boy, go get her," Morgan said.

"What?" Reid asked, knowing exactly what Morgan meant but didn't want to show it.

"Go talk to the girl, Pretty Boy. I'm not stopping unless you do. And now's your chance because it will look so much weirder if you sit down with me and then get up to talk to her. Your best shot is to go talk to her right now, so go," Morgan explained. Spencer understood the logic but was still unsure. He didn't know what to do or say to her, and he didn't even know if he would like her. He picked up that she was a doctor, but what else was there about her. "Okay, kid, you're not going. All you have to do is talk to her," Morgan said as if it were just as easy as that.

"What do I say, and how do I even know that I will like her," Reid asked.

"Reid, you stare at her for long periods of time every morning, I doubt that you won't like her. And just start with your name, tell her you see her getting coffee every morning but have never actually introduced yourself and see how it goes from there."

Morgan actually provided him with a good conversation starter, so he worked up the courage to go over and talk to her. He approached her table, his coffee in hand.

"Hi, I'm Spencer, Spencer Reid," he started. He instantly felt awkward. There was no reason for him to have given her his full name and now he was just standing there like an idiot.

"Hi," she said, "I'm Emma, Emma Gray," mimicking his word choice. "Can I help you with something?"

"No ... well ..." at this point he was just stuttering. "I was just thinking that I see you every single morning getting coffee here and I do the same thing but we've never actually said hello. Seeing as we're the only two people I've noticed who come here consistently every morning I thought I'd say hi."

"Oh, well, hi. Would you like to sit?" she asked. He smiled and sat down. "After all this time, does you coming over here have anything to do with that friend of yours who hasn't stopped staring at us since you walked over here?"

Reid looked at Morgan with an annoyed laugh and Emma let out a laugh. "Sorry, he's quite a ladies man and I'm not. He may or may not have forced me to come over here, yes," he said.

Emma laughed again, "that's okay, it's good you have a friend who can bring you out of your comfort zone like that." On the inside, she was thanking Morgan for finally encouraging this guy she really liked to come over and talk to her.

"Yea, it's good sometimes, not really when he won't stop teasing me at work though," Spencer said.

Emma laughed again as she was finding him actually genuinely funny, "so, what is it that you do?"

"I work for the FBI in a division called the BAU, we psychologically profile the criminals as a way to assist in catching them," Spencer explained. He internally scolded himself, convinced that she wouldn't care what he did. 

"Wow, that's interesting. So do you get called in around America or just D.C," she asked.

"We get cases all around, it's a lot of traveling," he said.

"I'm not sure if this is a dumb question or not, but why do they need to specially call you in, why isn't everyone just trained to do what you do?" she asked, unsure if she has just asked a really stupid question.

"No, it's not dumb at all. Criminal profiling is a way of catching criminals that is a lot more advanced than just collecting forensic evidence and going from there. We look at the killers' way of killing, their patterns, their habits or rituals and we look not only what is present at the crime scene but also what is missing from it. Most detectives won't receive this level of training," he explained.

"Right, so how much training did you get. Do you need like a PhD or something?" she asked. She was a doctor herself and was always wondering if anybody else she met also had one, it was just a thing she casually always asked.

"Well, I actually have three PhD's, in mathematics, chemistry and engineering and BA's in psychology, sociology, and philosophy but you don't require my level of -well- intelligence to work on the team," he said.

"What the hell, that's a lot. Getting my PhD put me through hell, how did you manage three?!" she asked in disbelief.

"I actually graduated high school by the age of 12, have an IQ of 187 and have an eidetic memory, so it wasn't that hard," Spencer said sheepishly, a blush creeping up on his face. Emma looked at Spencer with extreme impressiveness, she had never met anyone quite like him. He was smart, awkward and she liked just about every part of it. "But that's enough about me, what about you, what do you do, you mentioned you also hold a PhD?"

"Yes, I'm a doctor, a surgeon actually. I specialise in general surgery," she said almost shyly. She wasn't used to people talking to her without them being friends of hers, especially not when the other person seemed to genuinely want to get to know her.

Spencer smiled, "What made you choose that?"

"Well I always knew that I wanted to be a surgeon because my mom is one too, well used to be, she's retired now. My dad is a general practitioner, which also influenced my medical route. I always looked up to my mom and her work, so I followed her footsteps and chose general surgery," she explained.

"That's amazing, I had thought about going into medicine, but something about criminology just stuck with me," Spencer said.

"Yes, from what I've heard your job seems very interesting. I'm sure you deal with a lot of crazy," she said.

"Well, that's one way to put it, yes," he responded. Just then he noticed the book in her hand. "What is it that you're reading?"

"Oh this, I'm re-reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. I love reading and have only just recently got back into classics," she said.

"I loved that book. I, myself, enjoy a classic, but I don't always embark on the romance novels," he said, sheepishly. For some reason, using the word 'romance' in a sentence made him uncomfortable, seeing as he wasn't that experienced with dating or anything like that.

"That's understandable, but this book is about so much more than that, you know that right?" she said.

"Well, um, not rea, -" Spencer was cut off by Morgan who came to tell him that they had a case. After Morgan told Spencer, he discreetly walked away, purposely giving them space so that they could exchange information without his pressure. Morgan always had a hidden agenda with every move he made, especially when it came to women, even if it wasn't him trying to get this particular girl. "Oh, sorry, I have to go," he said, exiting the chair.

"Hey, that's okay. I know what it's like to have a demanding job," she said. "But, um ... we should, ah, talk some more when you get back. I could maybe teach you about Jane Eyre," she suggested.

Spencer may have been awkward around women, but he wasn't supid, he knew what she was suggesting. "Do you want to maybe put your number in my phone?" he asked shyly.

She smiled as if to say yes and extended her hand out. She typed her number in and the two of them said bye to each other as he stepped out of the café to start his case. Not too shortly after, she got a page from the hospital signaling that she had to get into work.

When Emma was at work, she just couldn't help thinking of him. She knew that they had only met today, but their conversation at the café plus the months of attraction built from getting coffee across from him almost every morning. She could now understand that when he wasn't getting coffee at that shop in the morning, he was probably out of town working a case. She couldn't help but stare at him, though.

"Dr. Gray, we need you," one of the nurses said. The patient needed her help immediately, so she rushed in and fixed the problem. When she finished up her work, she found herself wondering why the hell she was thinking about some guy she only officially met less that an hour ago.

What she didn't know, was that Reid was in the same boat. Once the team had briefed on the plane and they had free time to kill as they waited to get to their destination, he found himself thinking of her. Not only did he appreciate her beauty, her eyes and her hair and how they complemented her skin, but he also appreciated her intelligence and her apparent love of literature. It wasn't every day that he met a girl like her. If he was being honest, most of the beautiful girls he met were not only cast under Morgan's spell but also weren't really that smart which turned him away, and all of the intelligent girls he met were honestly not that breathtaking. He couldn't say that about her though, he found her completely and utterly breathtaking.

"Whatcha thinkin' bout kid?" Morgan asked slyly coming over to sit next to him.

"Nothing," Spencer said, almost defensively.

"Come on now Reid, the girl gave you her number she likes you!" Morgan exclaimed.

"Would you shut up, I don't want them to hear or know," Spencer said.

"Why not?" Morgan asked.

"To avoid them talking about this the same way you are. I don't need any more teasing," Spencer said half-jokingly and half-seriously.

"All right pretty boy, you're gorgeous doctor girl will stay our little secret," Morgan said while giving him an encouraging punch in the shoulder.

Spencer knew that this would not only be a long day, but a long rest of his life if Morgan continued to act this way.


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THREE: "'God, she's beautiful,' Spencer thought to himself."

After their 3-day long case, and when Spencer was back in D.C, he decided to call Emma too see if she wanted to maybe see him.

Emma was working a shift in the hospital but at that moment was on her lunch break when Spencer called. She didn't recognise but used her intuition to figure that it may be him.

"Hello," she said.

"Hi, it's Spencer, I just got back from a case," he started.

"Oh, cool. Where did you say you went?" she asked, she wasn't even sure if he did say where he was going.

"We were called into Chicago. But, um ... I'm calling to see if you maybe wanted to hang out at all this week?" he said. It was a statement but came out as more of a question.

"Oh yea, I'm getting off a 24 hour shift later tonight. We could maybe see each other tomorrow, if that works for you?" she asked.

"That's perfect. There's this coffee shop that's attached to a bookstore that I thought would be cool to check out," he said with a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"Allright, sounds like a plan. We could maybe meet at Joe's Café at 11 and go from there?" she said but used it more as a question.

"That's perfect. See you then, Emma," Spencer said.

"See you, Spencer," she said and hung up the phone. She wouldn't be lying if she said she literally swooned at the way he said her name. She knew that he was awkward and probably didn't ask out many girls, but she still couldn't help be attracted to him, he just had this way about him that was amazing. She thought about how he awkwardly answered questions about his education and PhDs and smiled widely. She definitely couldn't wait until tomorrow.

⌾

She made herself a light breakfast and took her free time to read some of her book and look over some patient files.

When 10:30 came around got ready and decided on a basic black sweater with a long black polka dot skirt. She liked her outfit because she looked sophisticated enough for someone like him, but also embraced her youthfulness with the polka dots and the black and white vans she paired it with. She thought she looked good enough, and after she was all ready she headed out the door.

Being a surgeon, she rarely needed to go anywhere but the hospital, so she didn't have a car. She didn't mind the walk to the café in the morning, and didn't mind spending money on an Uber when she had to go somewhere because it's not like she had a lot of wasted money on a car. During her walk, she pondered about the rest of the day and wondered what it would hold.

She wasn't sure if Spencer intended this to be a date, or if he intended to become her friend and nothing more. Either way, she was happy to know him, because he was just such a bewildering person. How could someone have 3 PhDs and multiple BAs and have a successful career for such a long time. They were about the same age, yet to her it seemed like he had accomplished so much more than her. She continued her walk thinking about him and soon reached the café; it was a short walk.

She was early, but didn't mind. She enjoyed the peace and quiet, especially on a day off, and didn't mind sitting alone. She didn't order anything because she remembered Spencer saying that they would meet here and then go to the final destination. She was peacefully people watching until he came.

"Hey," she heard from behind her and knew it had to be Spencer, so she turned around. "Have you been waiting long?"

"Hi, and no, I purposely came early. I like people watching, it's peaceful just sitting on a day off from my hectic job," she said.

"Yea, I understand that completely. So, do you wanna get headed to the coffee shop/bookstore I told you about?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, getting up. "Where is it?"

"It's about a five minute walk away from here," he answered.

"Perfect, let's go," she said. They both got up and left the café. During their walk there, Emma couldn't help Spencer's hand ever so casually grazing hers every so often, and she had the realisation that he was either doing on purpose, or if he was doing it by accident he wasn't doing anything to stop it. She had the realisation that weather or not this was a date, he definitely liked her because their hands were definitely touching and he was not shying away.

They finally got to the bookstore and took a seat. She loved the store and was surprised that Spencer knew of a place like this which she had never heard of before.

"So, where is the classics section?" she asked.

"It should be right behind that shelf" he said pointing to a nearby shelf. "Why?"

"Remember at Joe's when I asked if you had read Jane Eyre. You read it but you didn't understand it," she said.

"What do you mean, I understood it," he said.

"Okay, well maybe understand is the wrong word. You didn't feel it. It's so much more than just a 'romance novel'" she explained.

"But that's all it really was. Just two people who weren't really supposed to be together, getting together," he said, oblivious to their world.

"Let me just go get the book, I'll show you everything," she said and quickly got up to go find the book.

Spencer watched her get up and locate the book. All he could think of was how perplexed he was that a gorgeous girl not only gave him the time of day, but that a gorgeous girl was actually interested in him enough to show him a part of the world he didn't understand. He read literature and picked up on plot, but what he was missing was the emotion, and here was someone willing to show him how to feel.

She returned with the book in hand. "Okay, let me show you. Close your eyes," she instructed.

"Why?" he asked, confused.

"Just do it, Spencer!" she said excitedly.

She opened the book to a specific page and began reading. "Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! - I have as much soul as you, - and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you!" Emma read out dramatically, as if she were really Jane. "Okay, open your eyes."

"Okay...." Spencer said, almost as a question.

"Tell me what you felt," she said.

"Um ... sad for her, I guess," he said.

"And?" she pried, "anything else?"

"Well, I mean isn't there a point in every romance book where the couple fights before they get back together and have a happy ending," he said. "It happens in 93.7% of literature that surrounds a couple," he recited.

"Well, that may be so, Spencer. But did you feel not only sad for her, but empowered. This isn't just a 'romance novel', it's a story of empowerment. She goes from being belittled every day of her life and put in a harsh boarding school where she was allowed no freedom, to being a woman who can speak her mind and stand up for herself. She paints a picture of what a woman should be: brave, powerful, and not afraid of what he thinks of her. Most of us girls aren't that pretty either, but she teaches us that that's okay," Emma said. She surprised herself at the long explanation she just gave. "Sorry, I get passionate about these things."

"Don't apologise. I see what you mean, about the empowerment she has and how she holds herself high despite everything," Spencer said. He too, was surprised. Surprised that someone could make him feel. He was beginning to think that his feelings weren't for Jane Eyre or the book, but for the very girl in front of him. "And by the way, you're not like other girls in the sense that you're not pretty, you're very pretty" he said extremely sheepishly.

An immense red creeped over both of their faces. Spencer had one thought: Derek Morgan would be extremely proud of what he just said.

"Thank you," she said, through her blush.

The two of them stayed in the shop for a few more hours, reading to each other peacefully. At around 2 p.m, Emma got a call from work.

"I hate to take a call right now, but it's work," she said to Spencer. "Hello?" she said to the phone but it came out as a question.

"Dr. Gray, we need you to come in, right now. We're taking Katie Bryce into emergency surgery," one of the nurses said.

"Why, what happened. It doesn't make sense, I stabilised her last night," Emma said to the phone.

"We don't know much right now, all we know is that this morning she woke up complaining of pain and her condition has only worsened. We need you right now Dr. Gray," the nurse said.

"Okay, I'll be right in. Keep her okay for 20 minutes," Emma said.

"Spencer, I'm so sorry, but one of my patients needs emergency surgery," she said. "I have to go."

"Hey that's fine. Like I said, I know what having a demanding job is like," he said with understanding. "Do you want to call an Uber or do you want me to take you," he offered.

"You wouldn't mind taking me," Emma asked.

"No of course not, let's go walk back to my car," Spencer said.

The two of them started the quick walk back to the first café they met at, Joe's, and then they quickly got into his car.

"Which hospital?" he asked.

"Sloane-Shepherd Memorial Hospital," she responded. Just as she assumed, he didn't need to type that into any GPS or into his phone, and she wished that she also had an eidetic memory.

"Hey that hospital is only 5 minutes from where I work," he said.

"Really?" she asked. "You know, we work only 5 minutes away from each other, we probably only live a few minutes away from each other seeing as I live really close to the hospital and we get coffee at the same place every morning, for you the mornings where there isn't a case, but still. So close all this time yet we've never spoken to each other," she said.

"You're right. It's strange, almost. Washington, D.C has a population of 633,427, yet I can still safely say that it's a small world," he said.

"You just knew that off the top of your head?" she asked with a smile.

"Yes, yes I did," Spencer said.

"This is so annoying, I don't know what could possibly be wrong with the patient," Emma said.

"It's okay, I'm sure you're an amazing doctor and can figure it out," Spencer said sweetly. Emma was surprised, seeing as all of the other guys she had met were never this nice. The guys that were this nice, though, were douchebags who only gave compliments so that they could get laid. Spencer wasn't like that, though. 

"You know, you're very sweet, Spencer, thank you," she said with a smile. They both looked away from each other and both had faces equally as red. They liked each other and both knew it, but the two of them were both too scared to say anything about it.

He dropped her to the hospital and watched her run inside.

"God, she's beautiful," Spencer thought to himself.


	4. Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> FOUR: "'Kid, if you can look me in the eye and tell me you don't like her and have no interest in dating her, I'll put the phone down. If you can't do that, I'm calling,' Morgan insisted."

The next week, Spencer is off another case and back in D.C. They have now known each other for two weeks and were still having coffee together every morning that he was in town. This time, he had a case in Boston, and was relieved that it wasn't too far from him. He hated cases where he would have to travel to places like Seattle or California, they were too far away.

It was around 7:30 when Spencer walked into Joe's Café to see Emma already sitting down.

"Hey," he said and sat down once he got his coffee. They had now started sitting together every morning. If Emma was there first, they'd sit at her table and if Spencer was there first they'd sit at his table.

"Hey, good morning," she said.

"You too, how was your week?" he asked her.

"It was good, yea. The patient that I needed to see when we were last together is doing much better, so I'm relieved," she said.

"That's so good, I'm glad," he said, smiling at her.

"Yea, thanks. What about you, how was work and your case. Boston, right?" she asked. They had texted each other a few times throughout the week which is why she knew he was in Boston.

"Yes, Boston. The case went well, we caught our unsub before what would be his next kill, which is always good and makes us happy," he said.

"Aw, that's awesome, good for you guys," she said. "Hey, tell me about your team, I've met Morgan, but I want to know who else you work with," she asked.

"Okay, yea. So there's obviously Morgan, Derek Morgan. He's a ladies man and is constantly teasing me for my lack of what he calls "game", but I've known him since I started and he's the closest thing I have to a brother. Then there's Penelope Garcia, our technical analyst who doesn't come into the field with us, but she's a firecracker even over the phone; always giving us nicknames and just being constantly cheerful. Next would be Jennifer Jareau, or JJ; we've also known each other for a long time and she's the closest thing I have to a sister. I'm the Godfather to her kids, Henry and Michael. Next is Emily Prentiss, she's an excellent profiler, and she's pretty badass, for lack of a better word. Next, David Rossi, he's Italian and the stereotypical old Italian man who likes expensive wine and enjoys sitting and watching sunsets. Lastly is Aaron Hotchner, our unit chief; he seems cold and unapproachable at first, but once you get to know him he's really nice," Spencer said. "Sorry, I think I rambled, that was kind of long."

"No, it wasn't rambling, and plus, I like hearing you talk." Spencer blushed at that. "Your team sounds lovely, I'm sure it's great working with them," Emma said.

"It is. And hey, what about you, who do you work closely with, tell me about them," Spencer said.

"Okay, sure. So first there's Christina Yang, arguably my favourite person on this planet; she's my best friend ever and an excellent cardiothoracic surgeon. Then there's Alex Karev, who, like your unit chief, seems cold at first but once you get to know him is a real sweetie, he works in peds with kids, that's why. Then there's Callie Torres, who works in orthopedics. She's very outgoing and quite a good breath of fresh air when you're in a hospital of sick people all day. Then we have George O'Malley. The softest, most sweet little sweetheart you'll ever meet, yes, an excellent surgeon, but a huge softie. Then there's Izzie Stevens, who specialises in cancer research and treatment. Arguably the most determined out of all of us, she modeled in magazines with minimal clothing to get herself through med school. And lastly of my close colleagues is Miranda Bailey. When she was my resident, we called her the Nazi. She was so hard on us, yet shaped me into the doctor I am today. Anyways, yea. There are so many doctors at the hospital, but we were all interns together and we love working together," Emma said.

Spencer noticed that he loved listening to her voice, and listened intently. "That's amazing, how you've stayed so close with the people you interned with," he said.

"Yea it is. None of us chose the same specialty, yet we are as close as can be. And sometimes patients require more than one specialty at a time. For example, a patient who broke their leg but also faces abdominal problems," she said.

"That patient would need to see you and Callie Torres," Spencer said. She was amazed that he listened through the whole explanation and remembered what she said, most guy's didn't do that.

"Yes exactly, I'm surprised that you remember who does what," she said.

"Eidetic memory," he responded.

"Right, haha," she laughed. Just then she got called into work. "Sorry, got to go, duty calls," she said as she stood up.

"Yes, I understand," Spencer said. "Go save the world."

"More like one person, but I'll take it. See you later, Spencer," she said.

"Bye," he said and she exited the café. He continued to sit and drink his coffee while he waited before it was time to go into work.

⌾

When Spencer was at work, it was just a slow day. After every case, there was paperwork to fill out about what happened during important events during the case and about what evidence they compiled. If they didn't have a new case, they would also spend some time reviewing and consulting on cold cases. Today was one of those days, slow and filled with paperwork.

At around noon, Spencer got a text from Emma.

Emma: Hi Spencer!

Spencer: Hey Emma, what's up?

Emma: Nothing right now, lunch break. I was just texting to ask if you wanted to make plans to hang out sometime. Next week maybe?

Spencer: Yea, sounds good. Not sure what my schedule is, if there's no case next week I can be free anytime.

Emma: Ok awesome. We'll talk more in the morning when we get coffee, I just figured we could do something a little more interesting than just grabbing coffee and Joe's.

Spencer: Definitely, I agree. Talk tomorrow.

Emma: Talk tomorrow!

Spencer smiled at his phone, which he rarely uses.

"Spencer Reid why are you smiling," Morgan asked in a teasing tone.

"What, I'm not smiling," Spencer said.

"Oh you are definitely smiling. And using your phone, you hate technology," Emily chimed in from one desk over.

"Can you guys stop," Spencer asked.

"Reid's in looove," Morgan teased.

"Shut up," Spencer said.

"Who's the lucky girl, Spence, did you really meet someone?" Emily asked.

"With my help, yes," Morgan said with the biggest grin on his face.

"Who is she, Reid?" Emily asked excitedly.

Reid glared at Morgan, and decided to tell Emily about Emma. Emily was genuinely interested, whereas Morgan was only genuinely interested in teasing him.

"I met her at this coffee shop I go to every morning that we don't have a case. She goes there every morning too," Spencer started.

"Let me elaborate. He would have coffee a few tables over from her every morning and they hadn't even said one word to each other before I went in and made him," Morgan said.

Emily laughed and Spencer continued. "Anyways, she's a surgeon at Sloane-Shepherd memorial and she's really nice. But we're only friends, that's all."

"Is that so?" Emily asked with a sly smile. "Does the rest of the team know?"

"No, only you and Morgan. And hey, there's nothing to know, just friends, like I said," Spencer said.

"Do you want that to change?" Morgan asked.

"Oh God, what are you thinking?" Spencer asked with fear.

"Ask the girl out, Reid, you obviously like her," Morgan responded.

"No, what if that messes up the friendship, which I don't want to ruin," Spencer said.

"I can assure you, I don't think it will," Emily chimed in.

Before Spencer could even think, Morgan had snatched Reid's phone, went to Emma's contact and held it up in the air.

"Hey, give it back," Spencer asked like a child whose candy was being waved above his head.

"Kid, if you can look me in the eye and tell me you don't like her and have no interest in dating her, I'll put the phone down. If you can't do that, I'm calling," Morgan insisted.

It was times like this where Spencer hated his best friend.

"But - ...." Spencer stuttered.

"There's my answer, I'm calling," Morgan said and hit the dial button. Emily was trying her hardest not to laugh at this point.

The phone was picked up after three rings. "Hello?" Emma asked. Morgan had put the phone on speaker so that he and Emily could hear this conversation unfold.

"Hey, Emma," Spencer said, unsure of how to proceed. "I know we were just talking about making plans next week, but do you want to maybe go out to dinner. Friday, maybe?" he asked. Today was Thursday, so the next day would be Friday.

"Yea, that works perfectly. I'm on call tonight, but not tomorrow so that's perfect," she responded.

"Great. There's this restaurant uptown called Waterloo. If you text me your address I can pick you up at 7," he suggested.

"Yes, I've been there, it's perfect," She said. "Oh, and Spencer, are you asking me on a date?" she asked nonchalantly.

Spencer face turned red, Morgan smiled like an idiot and Emily looked both impressed and curious as to what Reid was going to say next.

"Um ... it depends. Do you want it to be a date?" he asked.

"Yes, yes I do, Spencer," she responded.

"Okay, then yes, I'm asking you on a date," he said.

She laughed at his apparent nervousness. "Pick me up at 7 tomorrow, Spencer."

"Bye, Emma see you then," he said.

"See you!" she said and hung up the phone.

"Well look at you, lover boy, someone's in looooove with you," Morgan said.

"I hate that I'm agreeing is Morgan, but I'm agreeing with Morgan. She definitely likes you," Emily said.

"You really think so?" he asked.

"Yes, kid, yes!" Morgan exclaimed.

"Do you guys think you could keep this to yourselves right now, not tell the rest of the team. I don't want to mess this up before it even starts and if I do I don't want everyone to know," Spener said.

"Give yourself some more credit, kid. You won't mess this up," Morgan said.

"Again, agreeing with Morgan here," Emily said. "From what I can she finds you funny and nice and she sounds like she wants to spend time with you. And I'd like to think I know what I'm talking about, I do study behaviour and body language for a living."

Spencer laughed, "thanks Emily."

"Alright, let's get back to work now," Morgan said and they all turned their heads back to the paperwork.

Spencer smiled inwardly. He never really knew if he loved Morgan to death, or if he actually wanted to kill him. Either way, he was silently thankful for him and the confidence boost he got that allowed him to ask Emma out.


	5. Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> FIVE: "Emma got the odd sense that he was suddenly not talking about the book, and that maybe he was talking about them."

Emma looked up the restaurant that Spencer had mentioned. It was gorgeous. She originally planned to wear something more casual, but decided to dress up more once she looked up the restaurant. 

When she asked Spencer if he was asking her on a date, she couldn't believe herself, and she couldn't believe Spencer either with his confident response. She thought it was pretty safe to say that she had what a third grader would call a crush on him. She truly felt immature at how she got butterflies whenever he texted or when she would see him in the mornings.

She wasn't used to feeling this way around guys, seeing as most she knew were assholes. She especially wasn't used to feeling this way around someone she knew for only two weeks, it was unheard of for her.

The day before, she texted Spencer her address so that he could pick her up at 7. It was currently 6:55.

She had to admit that she was quite nervous, for she found Spencer quite attractive and sometimes didn't know he knew what the hell she was talking about sometimes. What she liked, though, was that he listened, and remembered what she had to say. That was more she could say about most other guys.

Just then she heard a knock on the door to her apartment and opened it, knowing it was Spencer.

"Punctual as ever, hi Spence," Emma said. The nickname 'Spence' rolled off her tongue without her consciously thinking about it, yet she liked it.

"So it's Spence now, is it?" Spencer said. "And hey."

"You know what, Spence, I think I will call you that now," she said with a laugh. "Come on, let's go."

"Yea, come on," he said.

When they got to the restaurant, Spencer told the lady that he had a reservation for two, under Spencer Reid, and she beamed at his awkwardness around strangers. It was adorable and she loved it.

The lady sat them down and Spencer pulled a red rose out of his pocket and set it down on the table.

"Spencer Reid, did you really get me a red rose?" she asked, smiling.

"Maybe," he said sheepishly.

"Well I love it, thank you," she said.

"Anytime," he responded.

"So, tell me more about your work. I know you are a 'profiler' and catch serial killers but what is the whole process like?" she asked.

"Well remember I told you about my friend JJ, she's our press liaison and decides which cases we take and which ones we don't. Our unit chief, Hotch, and our tech analyst, Penelope, quickly brief the case to us and we share our initial thoughts and theories. Then we get on the plane and talk more once we get to the local police department. From there, once were actually in the state, we can do things like visit the coroner, crime scene and family members. Once we get there and get our hands on real evidence like the autopsy and looking at the crime scene, we can start testing our theories and finding out what matches and adds up," Spencer said.

"God that's interesting. I mean I said before I'm sure you deal with a lot of whack jobs but overall that sounds so interesting," she said. Spencer beamed at the fact that she actually seemed like she was listening to him and what he had to say. Most people would have interrupted him and said that he was rambling.

"And what about you, what's a day in the life like of a hectic surgeon?" he asked.

She looked excited for this topic as she loved her work and her job. "Well, on a slow day, I get into work at around 9 and go through rounds with my interns. Slow days are usually when I catch up on routine procedures like biopsies and minimally invasive things. I also do paperwork and try to teach my interns some useful things. That's slow days. Other times I'm rushing into emergency surgery, or if there's a big accident like a car crash I'm in the ER working fast on stabilising patients and things like that. And sometimes I'm working 24-48 hour shifts, so the interns will wake me up for any emergencies. Life at the hospital is crazy and I couldn't really explain just one day, but I love it and wouldn't change it for the world," she said.

"Yea, I know what you mean. My job looks different every week with new cases, but it's my favourite thing on the planet," he explained.

"Being apart of something that can save lives is really special to me, I'm sure you can relate too," she said.

"Yes of course. One of the most rewarding things about the job is watching families reunite or saving someone from captivity," he said.

"Mhm, and the look on the families faces when I tell them their loved one is out of surgery and doing well," she said.

"It almost makes up for the times when we fail," Spencer said, in a more serious tone.

"Do you want to hear the story of when I first cried on the job?" she asked.

"Well I'm not sure I like the sound of a story when it involves you crying, but go ahead" Spencer said sweetly.

Emma smoked at the compliment and began the story. "I was a first year resident, and had survived my decently okay internship on a fairly good note. I had already began performing solo surgeries, but this one was my first, what we call 'kill'. Never before had I understood the real weight behind the words 'we did everything we could', until I did everything I possibly could to save this girl but it just didn't work. After that, after telling the families, I locked myself in an on-call room and didn't speak to anyone for days. I was utterly gutted," she said.

"I'm so sorry that happened to you," Spencer said.

"It's okay. I sent a letter to her family every hear on the anniversary. I like to say that act keeps my conscience clean," she said.

"I like that idea, yea. I too remember the story of my first case where we didn't save someone on time," he said.

"Do you feel like sharing?"

"Yea why not. You've told your story, I'll tell mine. I won't go into all the details of the case, they're not important. What is important is the anonymous tip we got telling us where the victim was. The caller said he lives nearby a storage unit centre and saw someone matching our APB description being dragged into one of them on his way home. Never once did we assume that we were being played, that we were walking into a trap. Yet, there we were being led into a completely empty storage unit. By the time we figured out who the anonymous caller was, and when we figured out his address, it was too late. We didn't save him," Spencer said.

"The good thing, though, is that you caught the killer. He won't be able to kill ever again," she reminded him.

"That's what I tried to tell myself for the longest time. It just took time to get over it," he said.

"I know exactly what that feels like. It's truly the worst," she said.

Before they could continue, the waiter came over to take their order. They quickly scanned the menu before ordering.

"Wow, I've never had that intense of a conversation on a first date before," she said.

"Well, I don't go on many dates, but I agree," Spencer said.

"You know, Spence, you tell me that you're awkward and your friend Morgan constantly teases you, but I think you both should give you some more credit," she said.

"Thanks, yea I guess I'm just really awkward around new people. And I have a thing with germs so I always refuse handshakes or hugs which always gives people the wrong impression and I can never seem to get things right," Spencer said.

"For someone with three PhD's and two BA's, I find that quite hard to believe," she said.

"No it's true. You know once while working on a case I fell into a pool," Spender said.

Emma let out a loud laugh. "A pool?! How'd you manage that one, Spence?!" she asked, still laughing.

"If only I knew the answer to that question," he said with a smile.

"Well, I find your awkwardness quite endearing," she said, trying her best to flirt.

"Really?"

"Yes, Spence. So, like I said, give yourself some more credit," she said.

"Okay, I'll try," he said with a laugh.

Their food soon came and they continued to talk. At first they began talking about the food and how lovely the restaurant was, then more about their lives, hobbies and interests. About an hour later, Emma stifled a yawn.

"You tired?" he asked.

"No, of course not, it's only 8. Dim lighting makes my body think I'm tired even if I'm not," she said, referring to the dim lighting of the restaurant.

"Well we could head out, go to my apartment or something," he suggested.

"Spencer Reid! Are you trying to lure me to your apartment so that you can sleep with me!" she said jokingly.

"What?! No, God did it sound like that, that's not what I meant," he said awkwardly and nervously.

Emma laughed, "no, of course I know that, I was kidding," she said. "But in all seriousness, that would be cool."

"Okay awesome," Spencer said and waved down a waiter for the check.

After a short debacle over who would pay, they agreed that Spencer would pay as long as Emma could pay next time they were out.

They left in Spencer's car and headed to his apartment. When they got there, Emma was amazed at the sheer amount of books in his apartment.

"Have you really read these all?" she asked.

"Yes, most of them," he said.

"There's got to be hundreds of books in your apartment, Spence, how'd you manage that," she asked.

"Well, I can read roughly 20,000 words per minute and have an eidetic memory," he said.

"You know, it may be true that you can remember every detail about these books, but when you read, have you ever smiled or cried at a book," she asked.

"No?" he said, as a question, asking if that's something that he should have done in his life.

"So you've read Of Mice and Men, correct?" she asked.

"Yes, it's a classic, of course I have," he answered.

"And you're telling me you didn't ball your eyes out at the end?" she asked, perplexed. That book made her weep.

"Should I have?" he asked.

"Yes! Do you know where the book is?" she asked.

He walked deeper into his apartment and found the book in a pile of other classics. "Here you go," he said.

She found a spot on his couch and sat down, pointing at Spencer to sit next to her. Emma did what she did before with the other book, had him close his eyes as she read to him.

The whole time they were reading, Emma was hyper aware of Spencer's close proximity to her, and it gave her immense butterflies in her stomach to think that Spencer was this close to her. She internally scolded herself for feeling this way around someone she had only known for 2 weeks, but she couldn't help it.

Once Emma had read what she wanted to him, she had him open his eyes.

"Okay, now what did you feel," she asked, stressing the word feel.

"I don't know, sadness, of course. I think I'm bad at this," he said.

"Spence, you can't be bad at feeling," she said.

"Maybe not, I think I just have a hard time connecting with things that don't really relate to me," he said.

"Right, but that's the thing about literature. Seldom will you ever be put in the exact same situation as a character, but you have to interpret it and apply it to yourself," she said.

"I get that too, it's just ... things ... and now... " he stuttered.

"What are you trying to say, Spence?" she asked.

He shifted closer to her on the couch. "Connecting with what I feel has never been my strong suit, but right now all I can do is feel something, and I can't put my finger on it."

Emma got the odd sense that he was suddenly not talking about the book, and that maybe he was talking about them.

The two of them subconsciously leaned in and were now extremely close to one another. Neither of them said a word.

"Nevermind. I can put my finger on it," he said. With a wave of confidence rushing over him, he put his hands on her cheeks.

"Spence," she breathed out. She knew exactly what he was going to do next, but she was still mentally incapable of accepting that a gorgeous, smart, sweet man had his hands on her and was about to kiss her.

Before any of them could say anything else, or pull back, Spencer crashed his lips onto hers. Before she knew it, she was responding, fast.


	6. Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SIX: "Morgan glanced at him with a sly, sly smile; he knew exactly why Spencer was late."

The book Emma had in her hand was thrown onto the floor and the kiss became heavier, more intense. Spencer didn't have bucketloads of experience compared to someone like Morgan, but he sure as hell knew what he was doing.

Clothes were off in minutes, meaning Spencer and Emma were both very excited, to be naked on his couch together. She could feel him, against the boxer briefs that were still on, and she was proud that simply her taking off her dress and kissing him got him that excited.

After a little while like that, Spencer felt the need to be inside of her grow and grow. "May I?" he asked, while tugging at her underwear.

She didn't know that this was happening tonight, but she made sure she was wearing a sexy, lacy set underneath her dress just in case.

"Yes, please," she breathed out, and Spencer's hands went to take off her bra and underwear very quickly.

She reciprocated what he did to her by asking him, then pulling off his briefs.

"God, Spence" she said, looking at him. She didn't expect him to have as much length as he did, and width. She was impressed.

He then realised that he didn't want to fuck her on the couch, the same couch that his friends sat on when they were over.

Feeling adrenaline kick in, he used strength he never knew he had to pick her up to take her to his bedroom. She wrapped her legs around him and stayed like that when he placed her on the bed.

After spending some time kissing each other in various locations, Emma was almost sure that Spencer had left some definite hickeys on her neck.

"Spencer, please," she said breathily. He knew exactly what she meant, as they were both extremely turned on but hadn't began really pleasuring themselves yet.

"Before we ... you know, I have to make sure. You want this?" he asked her seriously, making sure she was sure. She nodded yes in response. "Also you're clean and on the pill?" he asked, getting another yes nod out of her.

"Now, please, Spence, please," she moaned against him.

He slipped inside her, which caused a moan to be let out of both of them.

"God, you're so wet," he said, while moaning against her neck. Her response was a long, drawn out moan that would send any guy off the edge no matter what mood they were in.

He proceeded to thrust in and out of her, earning highly pleasing sounds from both of them.

They continued like this, for about half an hour, constantly switching positions and going between high intensities and very slow, sensual moments.

Regardless of what he was doing to her, she could safely say that sex with Spencer Reid was better than anything she had experienced probably since young college days, when she would get drunk out of her mind and party.

"Spence, that was..." was all she could get out before she could finish.

"Amazing," he finished for her.

"Yes, amazing," she said. They were lying next to each other, panting heavily.

Emma had to get up to pee, as every girl should after sex. "You're leaving?" he asked, disappointedly.

"No, safety first, I mean unless you want me to go. Where's your bathroom?" she asked.

"Of course I don't want you to leave. And it's that door right there," he pointed to a door in his room.

"Thank you," she said. She got up, peed, and fixed her post-sex hair and makeup.

When she returned, Spencer had his head turned towards the bathroom door, wanting to see her as she walked out.

"You're gorgeous, you know that," he said.

"I don't know about that one, but thanks anyways," she said. She was extremely self-conscious.

"Hey, you're the one always telling me to give myself some credit, right. Well, here I am, telling you to do the same. Please believe me when I tell you you're gorgeous," he said.

Emma didn't know what to say, as not many guys treated her this highly.

"Thank you, Spencer," she said, using his full name to make her appreciation stronger. She climbed back into the bed and instinctively wrapped an arm around Spencer. "You don't mind this, do you?" she asked, knowing he had a thing with germs.

"Of course not," he said, and snuggled closer to her.

"Night, Spence, I had a lovely evening. Not necessarily what I planned, but if I were a primary school teacher I would label it exceeding expectations," she said.

Spencer laughed to that.

"Goodnight," he said and kissed her head.

Before she fell asleep, she spent some time thinking about how utterly crazy that was. She usually never had sex with a guy after a first date. Obviously they had met and hung out before, but tonight was still the first official date. She did internally scold herself for sleeping with him before she could really get to know him, but then she smiled as she thought about the fun moments that they had shared together.

Spencer was on the same train of thought before he fell asleep. He hadn't slept with very many people, maybe 5 girls in 5 years. The reason for this is never had he met a girl like Emma. Someone who he could talk seriously and have fun with. In his past he had girls recommended to him by Derek Morgan, who were only interested in fun which Spencer could not deal with, or girls who were smart like him, but didn't provide that much entertainment when together. Emma was so much different; so much better.

⌾

The next morning, Spencer and Emma were woken up to the lovely noise of Spencer's phone ringing.

"Is that my phone," Emma asked, groggily and disoriented. It suddenly dawned on her that she was naked in the bed of Spencer Reid.

"No, mine, ugh," Spencer said, equally as groggily. Spencer answered the phone, Emma still by his side. "Hello... yes ... of course ... I'll be right there ... okay ... bye," was what she heard from his end.

"You have to go to work, don't you?" she asked.

"Yes," he said guiltily. "I'm sorry. But I promise I'm not the kind of guy that runs out, it's just ... work," he said.

"No, trust me, I understand. I'll get a cab home," she said.

"No, no. You don't have to do that. You live close, I'll take you," he said.

"No, you don't have to do that either," she insisted.

"I'm not about to let you think I'm the kind of guy that sleeps with someone only to run away. Let me drive you home," he said.

"If you insist."

"I do insist," he said.

Emma marveled at the fact that Spencer really was a good guy. She surprised herself that she had actually found someone as good as him, in comparison to the other assholes she had dated in the past, who, in this situation would have left without even leaving a note.

They both got up, Emma put her dress from the night before back on while Spencer got changed into some new work clothes. He was in quite a rush so he didn't bother with his usual tie and sweater vest or cardigan.

"Ready," she asked.

"Yes, one second," he said, finalising the buttons on his shirt.

"Shit, you have sex hair," she said.

"I do not have sex hair," he said.

"Spence, look in the mirror. And plus, I should know, I spent a very long time tugging at your hair last night," she joked.

"Funny," he said sarcastically. She messed around with his hair in an attempt to get it less messy.

"Good enough," she decided.

He laughed and they walked out the door, him making sure he had everything he needed for work.

When they got in his car, Emma decided that she needed to clear something up, something that had been bugging her all night. 

"Hey Spence," she started. He nodded in response. "I just wanted to say, remind you, that I'm not the kind of girl that just sleeps with a guy on the first date. I just ... we just got caught up, I guess," she said.

"No, I know, trust me, I know. I'm not that kind of person either. The emotions last night were just intense, remember," he asked.

"Of course, yes. I just... Okay, do you think we could maybe start over and pretend it didn't happen," she suggested.

"You want to pretend last night didn't happen?" he asked disappointedly.

"Not like that, Spence. I would never want to forget that, it was very special to me. However, I don't want us to start only for sex and physical attraction, you know, there's so much more to a relationship than that. I want us, if we start anything, to be natural and not driven by any sexual favors. Essentially, I don't want this to be rushed," she said.

"Oh, I understand," he said with clarity. "Yea, I like that idea. This shouldn't be sex driven. If I like you, I like you and nothing else should dictate that."

"Exactly. I'm not trying to discredit last night, because it was amazing, but I don't want that to be the start of something. So if we could agree to pretend it never happened, not out of regret, but out of hope to start something real and natural," she said.

"That would be great, Emma, I agree," Spencer said.

She was proud of herself. By no means was she suggesting that people who had sex on the first date were sluts, but it wasn't the way she wanted to start a relationship with Spencer. She wasn't even sure if her and Spencer would be a couple, but if it ended up that way, she didn't want it to start like this.

They reached Emma's apartment, which was a short drive away, and she hugged him goodbye.

"Thanks for the drive, Spence, I appreciate it," she said.

"Anytime, Emma. We should do this again, a makeup first date, of sorts," he suggested.

"That sounds good. Our work gets busy so call me when you're available," she said.

"I will. I'll call you soon," he said.

"Okay, Spence, thank you again," she said.

"Anytime," with that, he left the apartment building.

When Spencer got to work, he was noticeably late as the team had already gathered to brief.

"Spencer Reid, late? Unheard of?" Morgan teased.

"Shut up Morgan. Sorry guys, I had to run a short errand, did I hold anything up," he apologised.

"Don't worry, Reid, we were only just getting started. Don't let it happen again," Hotch said.

"Got it," Spencer said, and sat down. Morgan glanced at him with a sly, sly smile; he knew exactly why Spencer was late.

Once the briefing was over and everyone had left the room to get ready for the flight, Spencer decided to stop in a staff room to grab some coffee.

"Spence, why is your hair so messy," an oblivious JJ asked.

"What, it's always messy," he defended

Morgan and Emily were also in the room, and the two of them were the only ones who knew about Emma, seeing as they were practically the ones who forced Spencer to go on a date with her in the first place.

"Oh I think pretty boy here got some action last night," Morgan said suggestively.

"With that girl, what was her name, Emma?" Emily said, knowing Spencer said to keep it a secret.

"What girl Spence, why didn't you tell me," JJ asked, almost hurt by her best friend's actions. 

"I met a girl, her name's Emma, she's a surgeon. I didn't want to tell anybody to make a big deal out of something that's probably not going to work. Girls like her don't go for guys like me. Emily and Morgan, however, took my phone one day and made me ask her out," Spencer said, stressing their names in annoyance.

"Hey, I never took your phone. That was all Morgan," Emily said.

"And, I said to look me in the eye and tell me you don't like her and I would've put the phone down. You're the one who stuttered over his words like a 4th grade boy trying to talk to his crush," Morgan defended.

"Whatever, those are just minor details. I usually tell you everything JJ, sorry. I just didn't want to make a big deal out of a girl who's way too good for me," he said.

"It's okay, Spence. I'm sure Emily and Derek have probably already told you, but I'm sure she likes you and doesn't think you're not good enough for her," JJ said.

"Maybe," he said.

"Either way, let's talk about the fact that pretty boy has sex hair, and post sex glow," Morgan added, not letting it go.

"How'd that date go," Emily asked, smirking.

"It was good. More than good, actually," he said.

"So you did do it," Morgan said.

"Maybe. But we made an agreement to forget about it. Not that it was bad or we regret it, but neither one of us wants to be the person to just have sex on the first date. If something happens we want it to be natural and not sex driven," he said.

"That's really sweet, Spence, I'm happy for you," JJ said.

"Thank you, JJ. If only you two were more interested in my feelings rather than my sex life," Spencer said, looking at Morgan and Emily.

"Hey, all I gotta say is: pretty boy has sex hair, pretty boy has sex hair!" Morgan said, like a 4th grader chanting to his friends.

"Oh shut up Morgan."


	7. Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SEVEN: "Spencer hated the thought of losing his rationality, so he split secondly decided to call the one person on this planet who, only recently, he felt a real connection with."

The next week, Spencer and Emma were back in their usual café for morning coffee. Over the weekend and onto Wednesday, Spencer worked on a case in Boston. Throughout the case, Spencer and Emma had texted each other a few times, discussing plans for when he comes back. During all those times, Morgan was sure to tease Spencer about his constant phone usage.

Emma was already seated, wanted to get an early morning to prepare for the hectic day ahead. There was a car crash the day before, and while all the patients were currently stable, she would have lots of work to do later.

"Hey," Spencer greeted as he joined her.

"Hey, what's up. How was the case?" she asked.

"It was good, easy, thank God. Not too many complications," he explained.

"That's good, wish I could say the same," she said.

"Oh no, what's wrong, are you okay?" he asked, genuinely concerned.

"Yes, I'm fine, it's my patients I'm worried about. Massive car crash. I usually deal with one or two patients in an accident, never seven whole victims," she said. It was true, that she was always prepared to deal with a few accident victims at a time, but she wasn't used to bigger crashes like this one had been.

"I'm so sorry that happened. Is everyone okay," he asked.

"Stable, all seven are stable. But that doesn't mean much, still lots of work to do," she said.

"Well that's good, at least. And I'm sure you're good at your job, so this shouldn't be too much," he said.

"It will surely put me to the test, this crash will. But hey, I'll take any challenge that comes my way," she said.

"That's really good about you, you know that," he said.

"Thank you, Spence," she said. She really appreciated the way that Spencer was sweet with her. Most other guys would use the same lines on the same type of girls, but she knew that Spencer wasn't like that, she knew he was kind and compassionate, not like any of the other asholes she had known.

Just than, of course, he got a call from Garcia informing him of another case. Emma and Spencer exchanged their usual 'I know what it's like to have a demanding job' exchange, and Spencer was on his way. She watched him walk out the window, messenger bag on his shoulder, when she realised she should probably head to work too. She had a long day ahead of her.

⌾

Springfield, Ohio.

"The man we're looking for is a white male, most likely in his mid to late 40s," Prentiss started the profile.

"The victims he is targeting are children who all suffer from various mental illnesses which have ranged from depression to dissociative identity disorder to schizophrenia," JJ added.

"We believe he is doing this as a means to 'put them out of their misery,' in a way, killing children he believes to have a poor life in order to allow their suggerage to stop," Rossi pitched in.

"He has been targeting children who have all been in inpatient care centres around the state. We believe he may be a freelance nurse or doctor who would have complete access to children suffering with mental illnesses in various hospitals," Morgan told the local P.D.

"Look for staff of this nature, freelance workers or medical staff who work out of many hospitals, not just one. Our unsub has travelled around hospital to hospital, however we know he is staff because the knowledge he has of the children would not be open to the public. He also leaves behind an individual signature at each crime scene," Hotch finalised.

"How do we know he doesn't just have a partner. A team of two doctors or nurses?" a member of the local P.D asked.

"The ritualistic nature of the kills, and the fact that distinct signatures and markings have been left at each crime scene suggest that these kills were deeply personal and deeply meaningful. Usually, crimes of this personalised nature don't call for having a partner, because both partners would have to be equally as committed, which is rare. This is why we believe that the unsub is working alone," Spencer answered.

JJ noted that the first time Spencer spoke during the profile was in response to a question, but not in the profile itself, which was strange for him. The more she thought about it, the more she realised that he hadn't been speaking much during the whole case.

She went over to him when they had a small amount of free time to ask.

"Hey Spence, you okay? You haven't been talking much," JJ started with him.

"I'm fine, okay. Lay off," Spener said harshly and quickly left the room.

JJ was left frazzled, she had never seen that from Spencer, not ever. He had been mad and/or sad before, but never had he used a tone like that with her before.

She wondered what was going on in his mind, and actually, this case was getting to him more than he would like to admit. One of the victims, a 10 year old boy, was killed for having schizophrenia. What bothered him most was having to think about schizophrenia, which he had usually tried his best to push down. His mother was a paranoid schizophrenic and he was sure that the gene was passed onto him.

Everyday he tried to suppress the pain of knowing that one day he may be trapped by schizophrenia.

Sometimes it got to be too much.

One week later - back home.

Spencer was pacing up and down his room. Should I take it, should I not? were the thoughts popping through Spencer's mind.

I'm going to be a paranoid schizophrenic, why not just start taking the pain away now, he thought, looking at a bottle of dilaudid which he promised himself he would never buy again. Yet, there he was, breaking his own promise.

Spencer hated the thought of losing his rationality, so he split secondly decided to call the one person on this planet who, only recently, he felt a real connection with.

Emma picked up after three rings. "Hello?"

"I need you, I need you to come over now," Spencer said. He was on the verge of tears, on the verge of losing it.

"Spence? Is everything okay?" she asked, extremely confused.

"I just ... please... I need you, please, I'll explain later," he said.

"Okay, Spence. I'll be right there," she said.

She would usually not, for anyone, get out of bed at 1 am, but the way Spencer was talking on the phone, she couldn't just let that go. Whatever pain he was feeling, she knew she needed to help.

When she got to his apartment, he opened the door only seconds after her knocking.

"What's wrong Spence. What's going on," she asked.

He immediately hugged her in the doorway and couldn't contain his tears.

"Spencer I can't help you if I don't know what's going on," she said.

"There's a bag ..." Spencer started while still sobbing.

"Okay. Is that important," she encouraged him to continue.

"There's a bag on the floor of my bedroom and I need you to get it and throw it out for me," he said, still wrapped in her arms.

"What's in it Spencer, you're scaring me," she said.

"Please," he pleaded.

Emma guided him to his couch while she went into his room. He was right, on the floor, there was a black bag. She looked inside and the contents shocked her. Needles, tourniquet and small glass bottles, which she learnt were Dilauded when she read the label.

She immediately took the black bag into the kitchen with her. She opened the bottles and poured the Dialuded into the sink before discarding the entire bag.

Once she finished up getting the drugs out, she went to him on the couch. Once she sat down, she placed a hand on his cheek and guided him closer to her.

"Do you wanna tell me what's going on, Spence," she asked.

He seemed to compose himself enough to open up. "A few years ago, we were working a case. Me and JJ went to what we thought was a witness's house, but the witness turned out to be our unsub. He kidnapped me and, long story short, injected me with Dialauded. I didn't want it, but he forced it in me and I developed a problem. I was clean, I promise, I still am clean. I didn't take it, Emma, I was staring at it but I swear to you I didn't take it." After opening up, he broke into another fit of sobs.

Emma took him into her arms again, hugging him to show him that he was okay, it was going to be okay.

"I believe you, Spence, I believe you. Thank you for calling me instead of taking it. Thank you for trusting me. But, I still don't understand, what happened to make you tempted," she asked.

"Our most recent case. The unsub was targeting children, not only children but children with mental disorders. One of the murdered children had schizophrenia. My ... my mom also has it. The gene for schizophrenia is hereditary. What if I become a paranoid schizophrenic just like my mom, Emma, what if I turn out like her," he pleaded.

"Then the people who care about you most will be there to support you. Spence, my mother has alzheimers, that's why she quit surgery. I know how you feel, on a deeper level than anyone else does. Okay, but there are people who will help us if we become like our parents," she said. The last thing she was expecting was for Spencer to tell her about his schizophrenic mom, because she actually could relate to his fear due to her mother's condition.

"I had no idea, Em, I'm sorry. God I'm such an idiot, you're completely fine and here I am crying like a baby," he said.

"Spencer, don't say that. I've had my struggles with it, okay, I'm not perfect," she said.

He interjected before she could continue. "I think you're perfect."

She smiled, despite the fact that he wouldn't be able to see it.

"Anyways, your sadness is completely normal and understandable. I would be more concerned if you weren't emotional about this. The drugs, those do have me concerned. You promise you didn't take any," she asked, needing to be sure.

"I promise. You can drug test me too, if you want," he said.

"I believe you, Spence, it's fine," she said.

"I called you, because ... well, recently I've kind of been thinking about you a lot," he admitted.

"You have?" she asked.

"Yes, I trust you, for some reason, more than I've been able to trust other people, besides my team, of course," Spencer told her.

"Well, I haven't known you long, Spencer, but I've had so much fun with you the few times we have seen each other," she admitted.

"Do you think you maybe want to be my," Spencer started but was cut off.

"No labels, not right now. For now we have a mutual understanding that we like each other and that we want to spend time with each other and not see other people. Okay, labels complicate things," she said.

"Okay, I like that," Spencer said.

"Are you feeling better?" she asked. She noticed that he had finally stopped shaking and had almost stopped crying too.

"I will, soon," he said.

"It's okay not to be okay, you know that right," she said.

"I know."

"Good. Now, Spence, it's 1:30 am, we can talk more in the morning. Do you mind if I stay over, I'll just be on the couch, I don't mind," she said.

"No, I mean I know we agreed to start over and all, but I think considering everything it would be okay for you to share a bed with me," he offered.

"I'd like that Spence, a lot," she said.

They made their way to Spencer's room, turning off the lights and heading under the covers.

"Goodnight, Spence," she said.

"Thank you for coming over, I really appreciate it."

"Any time, Spence, any time."

With that, they fell asleep. At first it was just next to each other, but sometime during the night they tangled their limbs together and ended up close, very close together.


	8. Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> EIGHT: "God, I've come to the conclusion that the world needs more guys like you."

The next morning, Emma woke up to the sound of her phone, Spencer still sleeping. He almost reached for the phone but Emma answered instead, sure it was hers. She was so sleepy that she didn't even look at the caller I.D to see who was calling.

"Dr. Gray," she said, as she assumed the only person calling her early in the morning would be someone from the hospital telling her that she needed to come in.

"Oh, um, hello, this is Aaron Hotchner, I was looking for Dr. Reid," a voice on the other line said.

Just then, Emma had the realisation that it was, in fact, Spencer's phone, and not hers.

Also on the other line, she heard a voice go, "who was that, Hotch, oh this is so good, put it on speaker."

She didn't seem to remember how to speak once she realised that it was Spencer's boss she was talking to. "Yes, he's here, just one second," she told Hotch.

She heard more chuckling, from multiple voices this time over the phone. As quietly as she could she woke Spencer up.

"Spence, I accidentally answered your phone."

"What?" he sounded confused.

"Just take it, here, just take it," she gave the phone to him.

"Hello?" Spencer said to the phone.

"Does lover boy here have a girl in his bed?" Morgan teased over speaker.

"My my, kid, whoever have you turned into. And whoever is this girl," Rossi said in a drawn out manner. He and Hotch were the only two not let in on that Spencer had been seeing someone. 

"Spencer here has been seeing a girl. I didn't know you two were going at it," Emily said.

"Guys, I promise, we were just sleeping. And don't worry about it. Do you need me?" Spencer said.

"No, actually I was calling to give you a few days off. The last case I understand could have been personal to you and I want to ensure you're doing okay," Hotchner said.

"No, I'm fine, it's fine," Spencer defended.

"Reid, there's no case anyways. I'm giving you an order, take a few personal days, understood?" Hotch said.

"Understood," Spencer responded.

"Hotch, I think he's gonna use these personal days for a little more than just mental healing. Maybe getting some physical activity in, if you know what I mean," said Morgan jokingly.

"Shut up Morgan, I hate you," Spencer said.

"Love you too, lover boy," Morgan said.

After that they said goodbye and hung up the phone.

"I am so sorry, Spencer, your phone really looks like mine and I was too tired to look at who was calling and oh my god I am so sorry," Emma said.

"Ems, it's fine, I promise," he told her. He was actually very amused with the whole situation and with the look on her face. "It was actually quite funny."

Still a look of embarrassment on her face, Emma moved to the kitchen. "Let's just make breakfast, okay."

"Okay," he responded.

"God, Spence you have literally nothing in your fridge," she said, a shocked and mock offended look on her face.

"Well I'm not here much, and it's not like I can cook," he defended.

"Come on, we're going to Joe's," she said.

She dragged him to Joe's cafe, where instead of just coffee, they ordered real breakfasts as well, sat down at his table and began eating.

"So, we haven't talked about last night yet," she said.

"It's fine, I'm fine, I promise," he said.

"And I believe you, I trust that you're fine. But, Spencer, come on. Last night was intense," she said.

"Look, I know, and I'm sorry that I scared you like that. I'm really so sorry. I just ... well, sometimes when I get in my head too much it can be problematic. You know? And that last case was just a lot," he explained.

"Okay, yea I get it. I understand, I just hope you will always call me, you know, instead of resorting to other things," she said.

"I will, always. I promise," he said.

"Well, then, I'm glad, and now we can move on," she said.

"I don't think you understand how perfect that sounds," he said. "Hey, do you maybe want to go on a date with me."

Emma laughed at his approach to ask her out. "Of course I would, Spence. Give me the time and place, I'll be there."

"Um, how does ice skating sound?" he asked. "Next Friday, 6.pm."

"Well it is winter, so that's appropriate, but I can't skate for the life of me," she said.

"Oh, I'll teach you. Skating is just basic physics applied to real life matter," he said, matter of factly.

"I don't think there's much science in me falling on my face," she said.

"You'll be fine," he laughed.

⌾

The next week. 

Emma changed into a black mini skirt and a black sweater. Her outfits were entirely impractical for the cold weather, but she was in a constant state of denial that it was cold, and dressed like it was summer as much as possible.

After agreeing that they would meet there (to avoid any car rides together which may result in something more), she met him at the ice skating rink at 6p.m.

"Allright, are you ready?" he asked.

"To fall on my face, yes," she joked.

"Hey, remember, skating is just physics. The main forces involved in ice skating are friction and momentum. The only difference between dancing on a floor and skating on ice is the lack of friction, so if you factor that in you should be fine. Then, there's momentum, which is basically how much force it would take to stop a moving object. Essentially, the heavier something is and the faster it's going, the more momentum it will have, and the harder it will be to slow it down. So, factor in those and you'll be fine," he said, as if everyone should have known that.

Emma laughed at his oblivion to the fact that there were, in fact, high probabilities of her falling. "Easier said than done, Dr. Reid."

Spencer felt a strange feeling in his stomach when she called him Dr. Reid, but brushed it off. 

They got on the ice and she immediately felt unstable.

"Friction and momentum, right?" she asked.

"Exactly, that's it," he encouraged.

"I can't believe we're grown adults and going ice skating, look at all the kids around," she said, clinging to the wall.

"True, but hey, it's fun," he said. He left her on the wall and proceeded to skate around and around.

"You really remind me of a 7 year old boy," she laughed when he got back.

The rest of the night continued, her fumbling around the ice, really not getting it. She even tried to use his knowledge of physics to help her but that was also no use.

"Okay, I'm done," she breathed.

"Really," he whined.

"Again, you are a 7 year old boy!" she laughed.

He laughed with her. "Come on, let's go get coffee."

To her, coffee sounded much better than struggling on the ice, and gladly accepted. They returned the skates, got their normal shoes back and drove to the nearest café. She didn't have a car, so she Ubered to the rink, but Spencer wasn't going to make her get another Uber just to get to a café.

"I'm glad we can start slow, start again," she started.

"I know, me too. I'm not the kind of person who rushes into things, you know. I'd rather take it slow, just talk," he said.

"I agree. God, I've come to the conclusion that the world needs more guys like you," she said.

"Really?" he asked. He was still shy, and wasn't the best with accepting compliments. He noticed his confidence had boosted significantly during the month he had known her, but he was always going to be shy at heart.

"Yes. Do you know how many guys have slept with me and not called me at all after. Or, how many guys who think the idea of going on a date out is pointless, than bring me to their place, just to sleep with me. They haven't heard of this nice thing called talking," she ranted. "Sorry, I didn't mean to rant."

"Oh, it's fine, I am a rambler myself. But I understand, I think my friend Morgan is like that too. When we're at a bar after work or something he can go up to any woman he wants and manages to bring them home, without even knowing them for a full hour," he said.

"I'm sure you're friend is an amazing person, but I just think you need to know someone, like you said, for a little longer than 5 minutes before sleeping with them," she said.

"I think for me, though, I'm just a little awkward with emotions and things like that. I don't go on dates very often, as you can imagine," he admitted.

"There's nothing wrong with being awkward, Spence, it's fine," she said. She actually found it extremely endearing when he stumbled over his words.

"Hey, so, I was thinking ... ." he started.

"Yea?"

"So, the last time I kissed you, we slept together. We're in public now, so I don't think there's a risk in that. Can I kiss you now, again?" he asked. She wasn't expecting him to ask, but was grateful that he did. It showed that he had respect not only for her, but women in general, which made her very hopeful.

"Of course you can," she said.

He leaned in closer to her, and pressed his lips to hers. She immediately reached her hands up to his face. The kiss was slow, and lasted maybe 10 seconds. They were soft together, letting their hands into each other's hair.

He was the first to pull away. "I'm glad we can take this slowly."

"Me too," she responded.

They continued talking for a little while, before deciding it was late enough to go home. After a short debacle, he took her home.

When they got to her building, she left the car. He rolled the window down to say goodnight one final time as she walked into the building. She turned around, walked back to the car, and gave him a goodnight kiss. He wasn't expecting it, which made him happy. He wasn't expecting any of this, to find a girl like her who was interested in what he had to say.

He was happy, and it was unusual for him.


	9. Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> NINE: "Somebody who I can share everything with, somebody who I trust, somebody who truly cares for me."

2 months later

Emma and Spencer had been together for 2 months after their ice skating date. They hadn't slept together yet, as they were waiting for a special moment.

Every morning, they would go to the coffee shop, and sit together at his usual table, except when he was on cases, of course, then she would sit at her usual table. They enjoyed their coffee mornings together, it gave them tranquility and calmness before their hectic jobs.

They would stay at each other's apartments sometimes just to spend the night. She didn't make the mistake of answering his phone again. At both of their apartments, Spencer had the left side of the bed and Emma had the right. They each had some clothes and even a toothbrush at the other's place.

She was starting to feel like she had a life with Spencer, and she wouldn't change it for the world.

They woke up one morning, from Spencer's and both walked to Joe's café, their usual place for morning coffee.

They went in, it was Sunday, and were both happy not to be disturbed by any phone calls from work telling them they had to go in on the weekend.

Just as they were talking about that, her phone rang.

"Spoke too soon, I guess," Spencer laughed. She looked at him with exaggerated sadness. "Answer it, you need to go save the world."

"I don't want to, it's a Sunday!" she whined. "But fine," she said and answered it. "Dr. Gray." Spencer only heard what was on Emma's side of the conversation, but he knew it was from work. "Two GSW's to the chest? How is the patient? Now? Okay, I'll be right in."

"You have to go," Spencer said.

"I'm so sorry, I hate this," she said.

"Ems, please go save a life. I would rather you do that than sit here and listen to my rambling," he said.

"I love your rambling. Please continue rambling so that I don't have to go into work," she whined.

"And you say I act like a 7 year old boy," he said, about her whining.

"Fine, you're right. I'll call an Uber," she said.

"It's fine, I can drive you," he offered.

"No, because then we would have to walk back to your apartment. You stay here, finish your coffee," she said.

"Okay," he said.

She waited for about two minutes until her Uber was there.

"You really need to buy a car," he said as he walked outside with her.

"Shut up, I'm totally fine with walking and Ubering everywhere," she said.

She gave him a quick hug, "you really need to buy a car."

"You really have to stop being right," she said. With that, she gave him a quick peck and went to work.

Spencer went back inside to finish his coffee, which was pointless. The second he sat down, he got a call.

"Reid, we have a case," Hotch said from the other line.

"Be right in," Spencer answered.

He internally groaned, but he always went in, knowing that his work was important for the world.

Once everyone had arrived, Hotch and Garcia started the briefing.

"Sorry everyone for making you come in on a Sunday, I know it's not ideal, but the case is local, which means we don't have to fly," Hotch started. "Now let's get started."

"Last week, my furry friends, we had a James Wilson in the hospital with two gunshot wounds to his stomach. He survived, but local law enforcement has requested our help because this morning, we have another victim. Same eye colour, hair colour, approximate height, our man's name is John Wade, so same initials. I could go onto list the similarities, but look at these pictures, they're pretty similar," Garcia said, and put up the photos of the men. "Both men were taken into Shepard-Sloan Memorial Hospital, and Wade is undergoing surgery now."

Spencer seemed to connect some dots. "Garcia, does it say which surgeon is performing Wade's surgery right now?" he asked.

"Let me just pull up the file," she said. "And... well, look at that. Our head surgeon on both cases is none other than Emma Gray," she said with an exceptionally wide smile on her face.

"Well isn't it about time we meet the girl who's been makin' ya happy," Rossi said.

Spencer only smiled before Hotch got their attention again. "Anyways, each of the victims have survived and have been brought to the hospital, which means we have no crime scenes. We all have to head to the hospital. Dave and I will take the first victim, Prentiss and Morgan our second, and JJ and Reid, you two will wait for the third victim. Talk to the doctor, see what you can find out about the injuries," Hotch instructed.

When they all arrived at the hospital in three separate cars, they were guided to a conference room that they could set up in.

"Underkill is a unique motive," Prentiss said.

"The two main reasons for an unsub to shoot a victim without killing them is 1, that the unsub is trying to send a message. They may have left the victims with something to tell us, shot them to induce fear, but needed the victims alive to share the message. The other reason is that the unsub is scared. Many unsubs have the confidence to find and restrain a victim, but get scared when the time comes to actually kill," Spencer said, his brain being ever so filled with knowledge.

"So maybe we're looking at a woman?" Morgan asked.

"It's possible, unless it's the first reason, unless the unsub is leaving us a message," Rossi said.

"What we have to figure out is if there is a message, or if the unsub was truly just too scared to go through with anything. I think it's safe to say that these men are surrogates for somebody in the unsub's life. Let's go talk to the victims. JJ and Reid, keep thinking until the doctor gets back, see what you can find out from her" Hotch instructed.

Everyone dispersed to go through with their orders.

Before JJ and Reid kept talking and giving ideas about the case, JJ asked Spencer about his girlfriend. "So, how are you and Emma doing?"

"Good, why?" Spencer asked.

"I'm just wondering, you now you never talk about her," JJ said.

"I know, I guess I'm just not used to having somebody like her in my life, you know?" Spencer asked.

"Somebody like her? You really like her, don't you," JJ said.

" I really do, JJ. And by somebody like her I mean somebody who I can share everything with, somebody who I trust, somebody who truly cares for me. I know everyone on this team does the same, but I've never felt that connection with anyone outside the BAU. I've never had a real stable family life, you know?" Spencer asked.

"Oh, I understand. Before Will, this team was all I had. But once I met him, I realised you can have a life outside this team, you can share everything with more of an outside perspective, it's quite refreshing, actually," JJ said.

"Definitely, I agree. I just really like her, JJ, really like her," Spencer said.

"Well, I've noticed that you've been happier in the past three months than I think I've ever seen you, so I really like her too," JJ said.

"It helps that she's smart, and funny, and gorgeous. She's taught me a lot about my own emotions, that its okay not to be okay, and she just makes me feel things I've never felt before," he said.

"Do you love her," JJ asked.

"I don't know. It's early. I've known her for 3 months, and have been seeing her for 2. I mean, I know I feel something that's stronger than just liking her, but it may be too early. I don't know, I'm not the most experienced in this field," Spencer said.

"Well, in my experience: when you know, you know. If you're not sure, you're not sure and that's fine. But, you will have a moment where you just know," JJ said.

"Thank you, JJ, I appreciate it," he said.

"Anytime, Spence, now let's get back to work," she said.

Just then, a nurse came in saying that the surgery on the third victim would only be about half an hour more. Spencer quickly texted Emma, telling her that he was in the hospital, working on the same case she had to leave that morning for.

About 15 minutes later, the rest of the team came back into the conference room.

Hotch and Rossi shared what they learnt from the victim, and Prentiss and Morgan did the same. It turns out that both victims were tied up in the same way, at some sort of abandoned building or warehouse. The unsub kept crying for somebody named Jacob, and the more each of the team members shared, the more that they learnt that the two victims were treated the same way. Both were tied up the same way, sat in the same chair, and were both held for one day before being shot.

"Is Wade still in surgery?" Hotch asked when they were finished sharing their victim's stories.

"Yes, a nurse popped her head in and said it should only be about half an hour more, that was maybe 15 minutes ago," JJ informed.

Hotch and the team continued to share ideas until Emma walked in the door.

"Spence, I didn't know you were going to be here," she said with happy surprise.

"I texted you, did you see it?" he asked.

"No, my phone is in my lab coat. I would have tried to make the surgery faster, or made an intern close up if I knew you were going to be here," she said.

"It's fine, Ems," he said. He gave her a quick hug, and she gave him a quick peck on the lips.

"My my, damn pretty boy," Morgan snickered.

"Cut it out, Morgan," Hotch warned, in a very dad-like tone, almost like he was chastising a young boy.

"Sorry, I'm Emma Gray by the way. I performed the surgeries on the three victims," Emma introduced.

"Dr. Gray," Rossi started.

"Call me Emma, you're all friends with Spence, please," she said.

"Well, Emma. What can you tell us," Rossi asked.

"What I can tell you is that the shooter was extremely precise. I just went over the files, and the gunshot wounds on each of the victims were almost exactly in the same place, one on the left and one on the right. When I say the wounds on each of the victims was exact, I mean down to the centimetre exact," Emma said.

"Interesting," Prentiss noted. "What can you tell us about the trajectory of the wounds in relation to where the gun was?"

"The gun must have been pressed against the bodies of the men. The shots weren't taken from a distance, they had to be precise, so we can tell from the angle of the bullet wound that the gun was pressed to the body when the shot was taken," Emma answered.

"So our unsub was too preoccupied with keeping everything precise. This unsub had to plan everything, to the centimetre, as Emma said, the unsub didn't freak out and shoot them in a hurry, this was the unsub's plan," JJ said.

"It sounds like common signs of OCD, the need for specific things to be perfectly in line, just how the person needs it to be. It looks like our unsub needed the precision, if the wounds were a centimetre off the shot wouldn't be as satisfying to him," Reid said.

Just then, a nurse came in with results from the tox screens of the three men. "Tox screens are in," Emma announced.

"What does it say?" Hotch asked.

"Spence? 20,000 words per minute could come in handy right about now," Emma said.

He took the file and sped read through the whole thing in under 20 seconds, something that would have taken Emma 3-4 minutes.

"In all three vics, we have the chemical C13H16N2O2," Spencer said, as if everybody in the room would know chemical symbols off the top of their heads.

"English?," Morgan asked.

"Melatonin. The sedative," Emma clarified.

Morgan knew Hotch didn't like the jokes while on professional time, but he couldn't resist saying, "damn only Reid could find a chick who knows science."

Spencer blushed while Emma laughed, the rest of the team holding back snickers, and Hotch looking at Morgan warningly.

"So our unsub sedated these men, there's more evidence on the woman theory," Hotch said, steering everybody back to the case.

The team toyed around with a few thoughts, and asked Emma a few more questions. Emma knew it was irrational, but she couldn't help feel jealous of the team. They got to spend so much time with him, even though it was spent talking about gruesome cases, they still got to see him. She would see him in the mornings, or when they were lucky to have the same days off, but she didn't see him as much as them.

When JJ put her arm on Spencer's shoulder, though, even though it was for less than 5 seconds, Emma realised she was jealous of JJ.

JJ was blonde, like her, and they didn't look way too dissimilar to each other. Spencer could have her, if he wanted, and he could see her all the time.

Emma snapped back to reality when JJ put an arm on Morgan's shoulder too, she must just be a physical contact kind of person, Emma thought to herself.


	10. Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TEN: "They didn't care where they were as long as they were together."

Emma was no longer needed, so she went to go check up on some patients, staying close to the team's room in case they had anymore medical questions.

She saw Spencer come out of the conference room.

"Hey, is everything okay," he asked her.

"Yes, of course, why wouldn't it be," she said, defensively, almost too defensively.

"A big part of my life is the study of body language and how to tell someone is lying," he said

"It's fine, it's stupid. I'm fine," she assured him.

"Come on, you've helped me at my worst. I don't care how minor it is, just tell me," he said. "I'm here for you."

"I know that, I know you are," she said.

"So, tell me what's up," he said.

"Okay fine, maybe it bothers me a little ... you know what never mind I'm going to sound like an idiot," she said, embarrassed.

"I promise you, you won't," he assured her.

"Okay well maybe at first I was thinking that it bothered me that you spent so much time with your team, but I'm not jealous of that, because I spend so much time in this hospital. It's just, you work with two women, who, quite frankly, are way prettier than I am. Like, you spent so much time with them, which is fine, but what happens when you get sick of switching between me and them, what happens when you'll just find it easier to be with one of them. It's crazy, I'm crazy, I know," she said, holding her head down in embarrassment.

"You're not crazy, okay. If you're worried about Emily or JJ, I mean, it's just not going to happen. JJ has a husband, who she adores, and a kid, Henry. I'm Henry's Godfather, JJ is my sister, and before you came into the room she and I were talking about how much I like you and about how much she likes her husband. And, Prentiss is just like my mom, she's not somebody I would ever look at that way," Spencer said, placing his hands on her shoulders.

"I know, but it still bugs me, it's something I don't even think I can control. I mean, what am I supposed to think when you're surrounded with gorgeous women all day," Emma asked.

"You know what you're supposed to think. You're supposed to think 'Spencer loves me, not JJ or Prentiss'," he said, then realised what he had said.

"You love me?" she asked, a smile creeping up on her face.

"Of course I love you, Emma, I love you so much," he said.

"Spence, I love you," she said, and at that point they were both smiling like idiots.

"Really?" he asked, unsure of himself, his shyness creeping back in.

"I've known you for 3 months, was hoping you'd come talk to me for much longer. Spence, I know it's early, but you're all I've been able to think about for 3 months straight. At home, at work, filing, in the operating room. Every though I have circles back to you, in one way or another," she admitted, rather sheepishly; she wasn't used to pouring her heart out like this.

"I don't think you understand how much I feel the same way," he answered.

She kissed him, to officiate what they felt. The kiss was full of love, it wasn't a quick peck, but it wasn't hungry and overly passionate like their first kiss had been; they kissed with love.

Until, Spencer deepend it. He kissed her like the first time, like he wanted more, because he did want more.

"There's an on call room one floor up," she breathed out.

He took her hand, and guided her into the elevator, passing by the window of the conference room.

Emma and Spencer didn't know it, but Morgan let out a, "well would you look at that. Pretty boy's off to get some action with doctor girl."

"I don't think Spencer Reid is the type to sleep with someone in a hospital, too many germs," Prentiss joked.

"That boy's IQ goes from 187 to 60 real fast when a pretty girl walks by or when doctor girl is mentioned, I think you'd be surprised," Rossi said.

"Guys, let's focus on the case. Reid can do whatever he wants, he's an adult," Hotch said, wanting to avoid how awkward it would be to interrupt that moment between Emma and Spencer.

In the elevator, that didn't have anybody else in it, Spencer's hands wandered to places they shouldn't yet.

"You can't undress me in an elevator, Spence," she said.

"But I can undress you?" he asked, jokingly.

Just then, the elevator bell dinged and the doors opened, as they attempted to flatten their hair down to make it look like they hadn't just been making out in the elevator.

He didn't know where the on call room was, so this time she guided him, their hands intertwined.

She opened the door, only to find one of her interns making out with a nurse, which was an extremely common occurrence.

"Lock the door next time," she commanded, and the two scurried out.

"Our turn," she then said to Spencer.

He locked the door behind him, "it's finally our turn, finally."

"What, have you been waiting for this, Dr. Reid," she asked, teasingly, going to unbutton his shirt. The Dr. Reid thing really got to him, helping his pants grow tighter.

"For so long, Dr. Gray," he responded, his hands in her hair.

"God, me too," she said, and stopped going slow. She started rushing to unbutton his shirt, as he did to her. She did the same thing with pants, and he did the same thing with her scrub bottoms.

She dropped to her knees, intending to please him, her hands toying at his briefs. When she got them completely off, Spencer realised that he was getting carried away. "No, no time. I need to be inside you."

She happily obliged, letting him walk over to unclasp her bra as she let her underwear fall to the ground.

They got on the small, uncomfortable on call room bed, but they didn't care. They were together, and in love; they didn't care where they were as long as they were together. 

"You're so wet, already?" Spencer said.

"I've been waiting for this. Of course I am," she responded.

"I love you," Spencer said, it turned out as more of a mumble due to him going to kiss her neck, definitely leaving marks.

"I love you," she responded, also saying it as a moan against his hair, God she loved his hair.

He broke the kiss and lined himself up with her, entering and pumping in and out.

She let out a moan, a moan that she was waiting two months to let out, and it felt great. Spencer felt great.

He too, let out his share of moans, her feeling so good to be inside of.

They continued, until they simultaneously reached a point where they could come over the edge at any second. Emma finished first, letting Spencer in and out of her a few more times before he finished.

"Oh my god," she whispered.

"That was ... ."

"Amazing, everything we've been waiting for," she finished for him.

"Yes, that, exactly what you said," he responded with a smile.

"I'm glad we waited, after our first time, of course," she said.

"We said we'd wait for a special moment," he said.

"And we did. I love you, Spencer Reid," she told him.

"I love you too, Emma Gray," he reciprocated.

They heard a knock at the door and panicked, until they heard the voice.

"Pretty boy, you in there?" they heard Morgan ask.

"Maybe," he yelled back out.

"Look, kids. I don't know if you haven't started, have already finished, or if you can go at it real quiet, but wherever you're at, we need you two to come back," he said, the smile wide on his face.

"We'll be out in a minute," Emma half yelled at him.

"Hey kids, I'm proud of ya, especially you pretty boy, or should I say lover boy," Morgan said, and with that he walked away, with a skip in his step, happy that who he thought of as his little brother was finally 'getting some action.'

"Oh my God," Spencer breathed out. "What if we forgot to lock the door."

"You would never live that down, ever," she laughed.

They got their clothes back on, attempted to straighten out their hair, and pulled the sheets off the bed, signaling to the next person that walked in that the sheets were not, by any means, clean.

When they arrived back in the conference room, Emma was quick to answer more medical questions regarding the wounds on the victims, and Spencer was ready to give out statistics.

She hugged his arm the whole time, desperate to be close to him.

The team was busy in thought, so Emma thought it would be a good time to talk to Spencer.

"Hey, you know what I realised... ." she said.

"What?" he asked.

"Your hands, you let yourself hold my hands. You never do that, you hate germs," she said.

"Well, I love you, so I would gladly accept your germs," Spencer said half jokingly but also half seriously.

He pulled her in for a kiss, completely forgetting about the audience that they had.

Hotch coughed for their attention.

"Sorry, my fault, I distract him," Emma said, guiltily. "Do you have any more questions? I should go before he becomes completely useless."

The team laughed. "We're okay, if we need you we'll find you," Hotch said.

"It was very nice to meet you all," Emma said before leaving.

"My my, kid, you're in looooove," Morgan teased.

"Morgan, you know the rule I set. No teasing lover boy, sorry I meant Reid during working hours," Hotch said, holding back the snicker at his own 'lover boy' comment.

The team laughed, and Spencer blushed. God he loved his team, and Emma, he was just happy.


	11. Eleven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ELEVEN: "He felt like a 12 year old girl whose crush admitted to liking her."

The case was over; the unsub was a female whose husband who had looked like the victims and had the J.W initials cheated on her, so she was taking out her anger on men that looked just like him, thinking that they were just like him.

The case was local, so they didn't have to fly which they were all extremely appreciative of. For the three days that the case was ongoing, they worked out of the BAU, but still visited the hospital to talk to the victims. Spencer enjoyed being and working around Emma, they could finally give each other some insight into that their lives looked like.

Emma met his team, and Spencer met Emma's closest friends: Christina Yang, Alex Karev, Callie Torres, George O'Malley, Izzie Stevens, and lastly Miranda Bailey, each of them giving her looks when she introduced Spencer to them.

Apparently word travels fast when people have sex in an oncall room. Who knew?

Spencer and Emma were eating at her apartment. No, neither one of them can cook. Yes, they ordered takeout.

Just then, Spencer got a call from Rossi.

"Work?" she asked.

"It's from Rossi, so maybe, but we just had a case," Spencer said.

"Answer it, it's fine," she said.

Spencer answered the phone, it wasn't for work, though. Rossi, almost monthly threw "family dinners", as he likes to call them. Every member of the BAU goes with whoever they're with. Derek brings Savannah, Garcia brings Kevin, Hotch brings Jack, JJ brings Will and the kids, and tonight, Spencer will bring Emma.

There had been three dinners at Rossi's since Emma and Spencer had met, but Spencer thought it would be too weird or awkward, even too early to bring her.

Some may say it's still to early; too early to say I love you, but they didn't care, they really didn't.

"Was it work?" she asked.

"No actually, it was Rossi. He holds dinners at his house almost monthly for the BAU. Everyone brings their families or just whoever they want to bring. Do you want to come to this one?" he asked.

"Of course I would. I'd love to meet your team, the way you know them. When we first met it was in a high stress situation where I was wearing my scrubs, ew," she said, she hated the scrubs.

"You look sexy in them," Spencer contradicted.

"No I do not. But anyways, I'd love to meet them for real," she said.

"Also, my sexy doctor, you have yet to meet the one and only Penelope Garcia. She's our tech analyst so she doesn't come into the field with us, but you would love her," Spencer said.

"Well, I can't wait. Dr. Reid," she said in a teasing tone.

"You have to stop calling me Dr. Reid, Dr. Gray," he said.

"Why is that," she said teasingly.

"It makes me think bad things, think of things I want to do to you," he said.

"Oh yea, like what," she said.

With that, they entered the bedroom.

⌾

"What does one wear to a BAU family dinner?!" she was getting ready for Rossi's, they had about an hour before they left.

"I don't know, anything," Spencer responded.

"Spencer Reid, you're going to have to give me a lot more than 'I don't know, anything,'" she said.

She had no idea if it was the occasion for jeans and t-shirt, or fancy dress.

"Okay, last time, JJ wore a black dress and it had sparkles on it and it was fancy," Spencer tried to describe.

"For a genius, your abilities to describe clothing isn't the best, but keep going," she said.

"Garcia dresses eccentrically all the time anyways, but she wore a bright pink dress which had lots of flowers everywhere," he said.

"All right, and Emily?" she asked.

"Emily wore a long red dress with a gold belt," he said.

"Okay, now this is an important question, were they wearing heels?" she asked, very seriously.

Spencer laughed at her efforts to make the perfect outfit. "Yes, all of them were wearing heels. And please stop worrying, it doesn't matter what you wear; you could show up in your scrubs and they would still love you."

"I don't want to test that theory, now tell me more. You have an eidetic memory, Spence, I need every detail," she said.

Spencer laughed once more, yet did as she said and described each outfit in, what Spencer thought was unnecessary detail.

Emma looked through her closet and decided on a black and white polka dot dress.

"That is the third time you've worn black and white polka dots," Spencer teased.

"What?" she asked, not even noticing.

"The first time we hung out, was a long polka dot black and white skirt, our second date was a short black and white polka dot skirt, and now this dress," Spencer said.

"I can't believe you remember that. It's my favourite pattern, if you haven't caught on," she said.

"Eidetic memory," Spencer noted. "And yes, I've caught on."

"You look cute, Spence, I didn't even notice you get dressed while I was stressing," she said.

"Cute? I look cute," he said.

"What, would you prefer me to say breathtakingly handsome, sexy even," she teased.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I would prefer that," he said.

She took his hand and led him to the mirror and hugged him from behind. He was wearing an outfit that he may usually wear to work, except a jacket rather than a cardigan.

"We look good," she muttered.

"You look good," he said, she nuzzled her face farther into him while he took her hand and kissed it.

"Come on, let's go," she said.

The drive there was silent, a peaceful, comfortable silent.

When they got to Rossi's; Rossi of course was there; as was JJ and her family; Penelope and Kevin; and Emily.

Penelope was the first to greet them, as she had never met Emma. Penelope gave them both bear hugs and immediately started asking questions.

"Penelope," Rossi said, in a drawn out, Italian manner. "We have to see her too."

Everyone else hugged Emma, but left Reid alone, he have a thing with germs.

Emma had mostly met everyone, but not Penelope and Kevin, or JJ's son and husband.

JJ's son, Henry, was adorable, and he loved Spencer.

"Uncle Spence!" he called out, and Emma found her heart melting at the gesture. Spencer picked him up and threw him over his shoulders.

"Henry, this is Emma, you haven't met her yet," Spencer introduced.

Spencer knelt down so that Henry and Emma were level, and Henry stuck his hand out to shake.

Emma was, not starstruck, but in awe of this little family that the BAU had created.

Soon entered Hotch and his son, Jack, with Derek and Savannah appearing shortly after.

"Finally, we are all here," Rossi said.

Emma looked around, it really was a family, packed in one backyard. Rossi's house was huge, necessary huge, but he was successful from his books, and he was Italian.

Of course, Emma greeted Morgan, but was introduced to Savannah. Jack immediately ran to Henry while Hotch reintroduced himself.

Spencer came back to them and started talking to Hotch and Morgan. Savannah turned to her, "the look on your face. You're in awe of this, aren't you. The BAU is a magical place."

"It's amazing, this. I mean, me and my work friends get together, but it's not like this," she said.

"Being Derek's girlfriend has really taught me about family; coming to these dinners is really special. Spencer bringing you here is also special. I've been with Derek for so many years, and I've never seen Spencer bring anyone," Savannah told her.

"Really?" she asked.

"Really what?" Morgan asked, as the boys turned out of their conversation.

"Really nothing," Emma laughed, Savannah winking at her.

Emma had known them for all of one night, not even 10 minutes, and she loved them, she loved this family, and she was so happy that Spencer was apart of it.

Dinner wasn't ready yet, as Rossi was making it by himself. He would not let anyone touch it, or he was convinced that they would mess it up. In the meantime, they were mingling outside in the backyard, where there were lights up everywhere, it was really special.

Spencer sat down with Emma, and the two kids joined shortly after.

"Do a magic trick Uncle Spence!" Henry exclaimed.

"You do magic?" Emma asked, eyebrows raised.

"Spencer is the best magician ever!" said Jack.

"Jack's right. Who has cards?" Spencer asked, and Henry ran to his mom for some cards.

Spencer performed the trick, pulling out the boy's card from behind Emma's ear.

"No way! How did you do that?!" Emma exclaimed.

"See, he's magic!" Jack said.

"He really is! I'm not kidding, Spence, how did you do that," she asked in awe.

"A magician never reveals his secrets," said Spencer, and Emma couldn't help but laugh. The boys ran away, happy with the trick that they received, and left Emma to go over and hug Spencer.

"You are so good with them," she said into the hug.

"The kids?"

"Yes. And everyone else. Spence, this family is truly special," she said.

"I know. I never thought I would be apart of something like this, something that had the capacity to make me feel truly happy, but here I am. And, with you," he said.

"What about me?" she asked, clueless.

"You make me happy," he said.

Their moment was interrupted by a squealing Garcia, "I don't think I'll ever get used to Spencer being such an open romantic."

Just then, Morgan came over. "She's right. I mean, who knew pretty boy over here would ever be so open about something like a relationship."

"You know, it took me a month to get him to hold my hand," she said.

"Spencer!" Garcia scolded.

"Germs!" Spencer defended.

"Anyways, I finally got him to hold my hand one day, and then he went to the bathroom to wash his hands," Emma laughed.

"Spencer, come on man," Morgan teased.

"Hey, at least I can hold her hands no problem now. I know she's clean. Unlike you Morgan, do you even shower," Spencer attempted at a tease.

"Oh you come here pretty boy," Morgan said, and almost barged through Emma to get to Spencer. Spencer was chased around the backyard, until Morgan caught up and held Spencer's hand.

"And you argued when I called you a 7 year old boy! Henry and Jack are more mature than you both," Emma called out.

JJ came up to her and laughed. "I'm not to sure about that, my son is pretty wild," JJ joked.

"He's very sweet though. He loves Spencer," Emma noted.

"That he does. Spencer is great with him, too," JJ said.

"I like this. I really like it here," Emma said, looking around at everyone in Rossi's backyard.

"This is my happy place. We get put in a lot of dark, bad situations at work, but this is my happy place," JJ said.

"And Spencer is happy here," Emma said.

"I know. You know, he's changed a lot in the past two months. Not in a bad way, no. He's the same version of himself, he's just happier, and more confident," JJ told her.

"Two months?" she questioned.

"Yes. It's because of you. He really likes you, Emma," JJ said.

"We told each other we love each other last week," Emma confessed.

"I know," JJ laughed.

"What? How?"

"Spencer said, you wanted to wait to sleep together again for a perfect moment. Saying 'I love you' for the first time sounds like a pretty special moment to me and you guys weren't exactly discreet about the sleeping together part," JJ said and smiled.

"Sorry about that!" Emma said, sheepishly. "I don't know, I guess I just get caught up when I'm around him. It's weird, I don't know."

"It's called love," JJ smiled.

Emma nudged JJ's shoulder, appreciating her and her kind words.

Rossi then came from the kitchen to announce that dinner was ready.

He got help setting up the plates outside, and soon everybody was seated.

Garcia was sipping on one too many drinks, while the kids were sitting far away from her, to avoid them accidentally drinking from the wrong glass.

Spencer's hand was holding Emma's under the table, sometimes creeping up farther, resulting in a blush on both their faces.

The team laughed and smiled at each other's stories. At some point, Savannah cleared her throat and stood up.

"Guys, Derek and I have something to announce," she said, an immense smile on her face.

Garcia was first to squeal, "are you getting married!!!"

"Not quite yet," Morgan said.

"Spencer," Savannah started. "We were wondering if it would be okay if you got another Godchild?"

"You're pregnant?!" he asked, looking straight at Morgan.

Morgan smiled, "Yea kid, I'm pregnant!"

Everyone laughed, with a comment from Henry about how men can't get pregnant.

"And Penelope, sweet Penelope, we were wondering if you could share the task with Spencer and be Godmother," Savannah asked.

Garcia practically shot out of her chair and ran over to give many, many hugs and kisses.

"All I feel, in here," she said, hands on her body, "is love. I just, I am full of love," Garcia said.

At that moment, Spencer looked at Emma. He had gone through so much. He had been kidnapped, suffered from drug addiction, gone to prison after being wrongly accused and, through all of it, dealt with loss and heartache along the way.

Spencer was happy, yes; he wasn't depressed, however, something was always going on in his life. His job got in the way of many opportunities to be happy, but he loved his job too much to leave it.

When he realised he was in love with Emma, though, that's when he felt truly happy.

He looked away from her and back to the table of people. Everybody was ethier laughing at Garcia or cheering Derek on.

Emma too, looked at Spencer. She was happy with him, and when he was happy, she was happy. This family that surrounded them was so different from anything she had ever experienced before. The sheer amount of love being shared in one backyard was mind blowing.

The night continued on, they laughed and talked, sharing various stories about their home lives. The BAU didn't talk about work, they let their partners talk about various things that went on in their homes. Emma spoke a few times, sharing stories about Spencer; sharing that he snored when he was stressed, he took showers that last way too long, he tried to cook once and failed, and they once left Spencer's apartment because there was a spider and neither one of them were brave enough to kill it.

At the same point, JJ, Will and Henry had to go, along with Hotch and Jack, as both boy's bedtimes were approaching. Savannah and Derek left soon after, her complaining of some pregnancy nausea.

Emma only wanted to leave when Spencer wanted to, so she was happy to stay. Garcia was also extremely hilarious, and watching a sober Kevin trying to contain her was equally as hilarious.

Garcia had announced, at one point, that she was wearing too many clothes, which was when Kevin decided it may be best to take her home.

When it was just Emily, Rossi, Spencer and Emma, though, they moved to a smaller seating area, Emma cuddling close to Spencer.

He no longer drank; after the drug addiction he let himself drink with the team here and there, but after prison he decided to stop all together. Admittedly, Emma may or may not have had one too many glasses of Rosé which is why she felt comfortable cuddling close to Spencer in front of his colleagues.

"You guys are amazing," Emily said.

"Aw, thanks. We're just happy," Emma said, almost slurring her words.

"Ah, young love. I used to know it," Rossi said nostalgically.

"Yea, five times, five marriages," Spencer joked.

"Did you just make a joke," Emily laughed.

"Hey, kid, watch it," Rossi said, half sternly, half jokingly.

"You've been married five times?" Emma asked, astonished.

"Mi amore, it's called love," Rossi said, holding out a glass of red Italian wine.

"I would only want to get married once, to someone special," Emily said.

"Once, twice, three times, what's the difference," Rossi said.

"I agree with Emily, Rossi," Spencer said.

"You are all undermining me, I'm telling you, getting married five times didn't give me a bad life," Rossi said.

"I also agree with Emily," Emma said, looking at Spencer. "Someone special."

"One of Rossi's marriages was officiated by Elvis, in Vegas," Spencer said, trying to change the topic only slightly, they knew each other for three months and she looked at him while talking about marriages. It's the alcohol talking, Spencer thought, she couldn't want a future with me.

"Ah yes, that was Kristall. With a K and two L's," Emily said.

"Kristall was quite the woman, I must admit," Rossi said.

"I can't believe you got married in Vegas, by Elvis!" Emma exclaimed.

"That was a hell of a fun night," Rossi said.

Their banter continued, talking about fun and serious things. Spencer stroked Emma's hair, which he didn't realise would calm her down so much.

"Is she asleep," Emily pointed out.

Spencer looked at her, "I think so." He gently shook her awake and she jumped up.

"Did I fall asleep?!" she asked.

"Yea, you did," Spencer said, and laughed.

"Don't laugh, Spence, that's horrible. I'm sorry guys, I didn't mean to do that," she said apologetically.

"Ah, don't worry about it, I was feeding you some good wine, I don't blame you," Rossi said with a smile, he was proud of his wine collection.

They had their last laugh, but it was getting late, so they said their goodbyes.

When Emma and Spencer got to his apartment, she fell asleep on his bed right then and there. He took his time to brush his teeth and change, and then took her shoes and dress off. He managed to get a sweater onto her, which was hard, but he did it. With that, he wrapped his arms around her and fell asleep peacefully.

The whole dinner just made Spencer feel happy. He hated not being able to put his finger on it, because it was more than happiness. He felt like a 12 year old girl whose crush admitted to liking her. It was strange to Spencer, these feelings other than sadness, worry, unfulfillment, he just wasn't used to it.

He went to bed, smiling like an idiot, smiling at the fact that Emma would likely be calling him a "seven year old boy" if she were awake.


	12. Twelve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TWELVE: "When Spencer returned, he did make it up to her, keeping to his word, even though Emma felt it unnecessary."

The week after Rossi's successful family dinner, the two were back at Joe's Café for their daily morning coffee.

Again, as per usual, one of their phones rang, this time turning out to be hers.

"Answer it! It's fine," Spencer said when she looked at him with dread, not wanting to answer it and ruin their morning.

"Thank you," she mouthed while answering. After a brief call, she muttered, "be right there." To Spencer, she muttered "I really don't wanna go!"

"Again, you call me a 7 year old boy. Come on, I'll drive you," he said.

"Ugh, please mommy don't make me go to school!" she said, mocking what she thought Henry would say to JJ when he didn't want to go to school.

"Have I mentioned that you're adorable when you whine," he said.

Emma laughed and snapped out of it, "sorry, I just sometimes don't want to go in, you know?"

"Yea, I understand. It's fine, though," Spencer said.

He did as he said he would and drove her to work, which didn't inconvenience him at all. It still baffled him at how they hadn't talked sooner, seeing as they worked, lived and drank coffee every morning within a three mile radius from each other.

They night, they both meet up at her apartment, both of them happy that Spencer didn't have a case and that Emma didn't need to work a long shift.

Just in time to interrupt the moment, Hotch called with the news of a case.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go," he told her.

"What, really, I thought we had the night," she said.

"I know, but it's work, I have to go," he said. "I promise I'll make it up to you."

Emma leaned over the couch to kiss him, "It's fine, Spence, I think at this point we've just learnt to accept that our work will interfere sometimes, no need to make anything up."

"I'm so happy you understand, Ems. But I know you had a movie night planned," he said.

"I can eat popcorn by myself, okay. I'm mature enough to understand that work may always come first for the both of us. Not to put me down, or put you down, but what we do is important, okay? So go save lives, while I won't complain. Then when I go save lives you won't complain either," she said.

"I respect and accept that," Spencer said, getting up and putting on some more work appropriate work clothes.

"I mean, I will say it sucks that they're calling you at this time of day. But, I mean hey, we can't choose when the bad guys strike, right?" she said.

"Exactly. Thank you for being understanding with me, Ems, I appreciate it more than you know," he said.

"Of course, Spence," she said, getting up to meet him by the door. "Now go save lives."

They kissed each other again, before Spencer rushed out the door to get to work.

Emma carried out her movie night, calling over her best friend, Christina Yang, to take Spencer's place.

They fall asleep on Emma's couch, after lots of talking about the men in both of their lives, and Emma fell asleep happy.

⌾

When Spencer returned, he did make it up to her, keeping to his word, even though Emma felt it unnecessary.

"Out of sheer curiosity, on your case, how many lives did you save," Emma asked.

"Directly, two, we figured out where the unsub was taking his victims, and saved two victims. Indirectly, many more, see he was the kind of killer that was going to continue killing until stopped by us," Spencer explained.

"Okay, Spence, you just helped two victims, and many more potential ones. I don't see why I deserve a date night for that," she said.

"I just think you deserve something nice, no occasion necessary," he said.

"Fine, I'm not arguing, I know I'll lose. Where are we going?" she asked.

"There's this restaurant, casual, that only serves pizza. I mean, any flavour, anything pizza related, they sell. I don't think you understand how much I want to try pizza fries, what even is that?" Spencer said, excitedly.

"Are you sure this date night isn't just for you, so you can eat pizza," Emma said teasingly.

"Of course," Spencer said jokingly defensively.

"Okay, fine, let's get ready," she said.


End file.
